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The following is an interview with Vatsalya Srivastava about his perception of Bhutan. Vatsalya Srivastava is an Indian Professor who is studying Finances in the University of Tilburg – Holland. He was my colleague in the course of Behavioral Economics.
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1. Not many people visited the Kingdom of Bhutan. What was your idea when you went there and why did you decided to visit the country?
I had a job offer from Sherubtse college (http://www.sherubtse.edu.bt) and so I wanted to find out what would I be getting into if I take the offer. Also, it is much easier to visit Bhutan if you are Indian.
2. Interesting. So it seems that it was a bit by chance that you visited Bhutan. What were your first impressions about the country? Were there any characteristics of the country that particularly caught your attention?
Only partly by chance, considering that I had purposefully applied for the job. It´s an incredibly beautiful country. That’s one aspect that it difficult to miss. The people seem to keep to themselves but are warm and helpful if you make an effort to spend some time with them. Coming from India, the lack of severe disparity and the complete absence of begging caught my attention. There are of course differences between rich and the poor, but the difference is not as stark as in my country.
3. So the lack of inequality seems to be a relevant feature of the country. What about happiness? Bhutan is the only country to measure gross national happiness (GNH). Did you felt that had an impact on peoples’ lives and behavior?
'Lack of' would be too strong a term. I would say lesser inequality than most countries in its neighborhood. It also helps if you are a secluded country, income inequality does not find manifestation as there just aren't that many super luxury items to buy. Further, limited communication systems also ensure that inter-country inequality is not a big determinant of people's sense of self (if you don't get to see Jersey Shore, you don't develop the dream of owning a condominium). I am not sure if the measure itself had an effect on people's lives, but I do suspect that linkages are stronger in the other direction. Implying that Buddhism and Bhutanese society hold personal bliss as the ultimate goal of life. Measuring seems to be a good proxy.
4 .Very interesting, Vatsalya. From what I understand of your description, it seems that the Bhutanese society benefits from being isolated, as that allows avoiding social comparison that can be detrimental. Do you think there are also drawbacks from that situation?
I guess it does, at least as far as limiting restricting material aspirations are concerned. There could be drawbacks, but I am not sure that is particularly relevant. Happiness seems to be a relative measure. If I run 100 mts in 15 secs, I would be happy with myself. However, if I am informed that all of my friends can complete it in 14 secs, my happiness coefficient is likely to register a fall. This analogy simply reinforces the idea that more information may not necessarily be better. Of course, there could be some cases in which lack of information could be detrimental, say education or medicine. But far too often a case is made in favor of information, assuming that it is neutral and it is what we make of information that is of greater importance. However, information is not neutral, it has inherent biases, and, even in its most benign form, it is strongly suggestive (of what is good and desirable). So, in short, there are drawbacks, but doesn't the whole idea of measuring happiness call for abandoning general benchmarks (or globally comparable ones like GDP) in favor of personal ones? If a man in Bhutan is as happy with a meal of rice and spiced dumplings as an American is with a Big Mac, why does it matter that the reason could be that the guy in Bhutan has never had a Big Mac, so doesn’t have a comparative standard?
5. Bhutan is often referred to, in the Western world, as an example of social innovation because of its practices related with happiness and its measurement. What are the main lessons we can learn from this country?
That while it is easy to criticize a measure of happiness, the lack of availability of a universal measure for happiness should not dissuade us from trying to measure probably that only variable of human well-being that really matters.
