More academic idiocy
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Member 3680785 wrote:
When my family gets together, it's cordial enough, but there's no real connection. We're just a grouping of self-interested individuals battling their narcissism with advanced degrees, plastic surgery, etc. No one's ever gonna get up and spontaneously dance, and the minute one of the group falls off the straight-and-narrow, they get ostracized.
I smell a reality t.v. show in the making.
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Research finds the happiest US States[^] So these two profs (one in the UK) used two disparate studies of health, crime rates, etc, and produced a list ranking states by 'happiness'. Their study places Louisiana at the top of the list. Yup, Louisiana - the state with the worst education system, the highest (IIRC) rates of obesity, widespread poverty... and then there's that little Katrina thing... But no matter. The profs say it's the happiest place in the country. :rolleyes: On a more believable note, NY was dead last. :laugh:
L u n a t i c F r i n g e
Happiness is not a matter of statistics. The best country to live in according to a UN study is Norway, and they also have one of the highest suicide rates in the world. Happiness Is a Warm Gun[^] :)
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Well, I actually lived just outside of New Orleans. I would say that life in the Bayou Country is nice and people are generally happy, maybe in a different way than in New Orleans, but happy nonetheless. I find the general correlation that the study reported to be only slightly convincing. People can be happy for widely different reasons. I know lots of people that love the mountains, whereas I hate them. Others love snow -- not me. Put me in snowy mountains and I'm perfectly miserable, whereas others are perfectly content. Maybe be they found multiple correlations with more significance than they showed -- it would be interesting to see the entire study and see exactly what they did -- but their overall conclusion is pretty much self evident: People who are happy know that they are and will tell you that they are.
CQ de W5ALT
Walt Fair, Jr., P. E. Comport Computing Specializing in Technical Engineering Software
Walt Fair, Jr. wrote:
People who are happy know that they are and will tell you that they are.
That's tough to argue with. Thank goodness we have a study to confirm it. :laugh: There's a NY Times story on it -here[^] that gives a link to the published study. The last lines of the Times article are pretty hysterical - More important, might contentment be overrated? Seriously, isn’t restlessness, even outright discontent, often a catalyst for creativity? We’re from the Harry Lime school. If you’ve seen the film classic “The Third Man,” you will remember that character’s admonition: “In Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. “In Switzerland they had brotherly love. They had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock.”
L u n a t i c F r i n g e
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So you don't like Louisiana. I'm sure that the happy, and the not so happy, residents of that state will be even happier for you to stay away. ;P
LunaticFringe wrote:
the state with the worst education system, the highest (IIRC) rates of obesity, widespread poverty
Maybe fat, dumb and happy has some things going for it. Reminds me of movie quote: "Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son."
Gary Kirkham Forever Forgiven and Alive in the Spirit It's against my relationship to have a religion. Me blog, You read
Gary Kirkham wrote:
"Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son."
Maybe so, but the guy who said that ended up being run over by the Deathmobile[^].
Software Zen:
delete this; -
There's no idiocy at play here. I've lived in Louisiana, and people are happy. I think this is because they have meaningful relationships that transcend their wealth, physical attractiveness, etc. If you meet a Cajun, there is probably someone, somewhere who really loves that person regardless of their income, bra size, etc. That's less true of more advanced areas. My family lives all over the world, so I see both sides. Often, I wish I was part of a real community with a real culture like Louisiana. When my family gets together, it's cordial enough, but there's no real connection. We're just a grouping of self-interested individuals battling their narcissism with advanced degrees, plastic surgery, etc. No one's ever gonna get up and spontaneously dance, and the minute one of the group falls off the straight-and-narrow, they get ostracized.
My father traveled worked for the US gov, and the longest we stayed anyplace before I was in high school was 2yrs (1967.07.04-11969.07.04, Taiwan). We grew up leaving people behind, expecting never to meet them again. It exposed me to a lot of culture and such, but none of us kids have had close friends or been very happy. We are all hyper intelligent social 'tards. I know a number of people who moved to Louisiana (from Connecticut) for the rural life style, warm temps and low cost of living. I understand their motives. As far as adding a an objective measure to an subjective question: . Rate your happiness, on a scale of 0-10 Ok, it is 8.5. No it isn't! You can't be happier than 4.7, look it the pollution and weather in your area, plus your income and weight . How much BS is that? It is OK to try and see what correlates with perceived happiness, but lack of education, more than enough food and low expectations may well have the best correlation to happiness, and who are we to laugh at it? ( :) :-D :laugh: ;P )
Opacity, the new Transparency.
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Happiness is not a matter of statistics. The best country to live in according to a UN study is Norway, and they also have one of the highest suicide rates in the world. Happiness Is a Warm Gun[^] :)
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My father traveled worked for the US gov, and the longest we stayed anyplace before I was in high school was 2yrs (1967.07.04-11969.07.04, Taiwan). We grew up leaving people behind, expecting never to meet them again. It exposed me to a lot of culture and such, but none of us kids have had close friends or been very happy. We are all hyper intelligent social 'tards. I know a number of people who moved to Louisiana (from Connecticut) for the rural life style, warm temps and low cost of living. I understand their motives. As far as adding a an objective measure to an subjective question: . Rate your happiness, on a scale of 0-10 Ok, it is 8.5. No it isn't! You can't be happier than 4.7, look it the pollution and weather in your area, plus your income and weight . How much BS is that? It is OK to try and see what correlates with perceived happiness, but lack of education, more than enough food and low expectations may well have the best correlation to happiness, and who are we to laugh at it? ( :) :-D :laugh: ;P )
Opacity, the new Transparency.
My wife lived in Rhode Island. Jam that many people into a state the size of a largish airport and you would be amazed at their perpetual mood. Eye contact is considered aggressive behavior and will get you attacked. I'm betting their weight and income + education should put them pretty high on that scale. But man, they hate everything. You are right, the scale is just plain stupid.
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Gary Kirkham wrote:
"Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son."
Maybe so, but the guy who said that ended up being run over by the Deathmobile[^].
Software Zen:
delete this;See, that just proves my point. :-D
Gary Kirkham Forever Forgiven and Alive in the Spirit It's against my relationship to have a religion. Me blog, You read
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Happiness is not a matter of statistics. The best country to live in according to a UN study is Norway, and they also have one of the highest suicide rates in the world. Happiness Is a Warm Gun[^] :)
Everybody is just dying to be happy there, I guess. ;P
Chris Meech I am Canadian. [heard in a local bar] In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is. [Yogi Berra]
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Happiness is not a matter of statistics. The best country to live in according to a UN study is Norway, and they also have one of the highest suicide rates in the world. Happiness Is a Warm Gun[^] :)
Nemanja Trifunovic wrote:
The best country to live in according to a UN study is Norway, and they also have one of the highest suicide rates in the world.
That is logical. If all the unhappy people kick the bucket, the rest is relatively happy. It is not true. The suicide rate in Norway is about the same as in US. Check Wikipedia if you like.
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Nemanja Trifunovic wrote:
The best country to live in according to a UN study is Norway, and they also have one of the highest suicide rates in the world.
That is logical. If all the unhappy people kick the bucket, the rest is relatively happy. It is not true. The suicide rate in Norway is about the same as in US. Check Wikipedia if you like.
Haakon S. wrote:
It is not true. The suicide rate in Norway is about the same as in US. Check Wikipedia if you like.
Not that I care for Wikipedia, but according to WHO[^] you are right. I remember Norway being mentioned in this context in a Code Project discussion[^].
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Research finds the happiest US States[^] So these two profs (one in the UK) used two disparate studies of health, crime rates, etc, and produced a list ranking states by 'happiness'. Their study places Louisiana at the top of the list. Yup, Louisiana - the state with the worst education system, the highest (IIRC) rates of obesity, widespread poverty... and then there's that little Katrina thing... But no matter. The profs say it's the happiest place in the country. :rolleyes: On a more believable note, NY was dead last. :laugh:
L u n a t i c F r i n g e
I didn't want to look, it'd depress me.
///////////////// Groucho Marx Those are my principals, if you don't like them… I have others.
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Research finds the happiest US States[^] So these two profs (one in the UK) used two disparate studies of health, crime rates, etc, and produced a list ranking states by 'happiness'. Their study places Louisiana at the top of the list. Yup, Louisiana - the state with the worst education system, the highest (IIRC) rates of obesity, widespread poverty... and then there's that little Katrina thing... But no matter. The profs say it's the happiest place in the country. :rolleyes: On a more believable note, NY was dead last. :laugh:
L u n a t i c F r i n g e
LunaticFringe wrote:
Their study places Louisiana at the top of the list. Yup, Louisiana - the state with the worst education system, the highest (IIRC) rates of obesity, widespread poverty... and then there's that little Katrina thing...
Given that the main cause of human misery is marketing and advertising, it's not surprising.
LunaticFringe wrote:
NY was dead last.
And nor is that.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Unless I'm mistaken, I think you need to re-read his response. Sounded to me as if he was defending the study's methodology. How about some clarification, Nagy? :-D
L u n a t i c F r i n g e
All comments made during crimbo-7 days are [at best] tongue in cheek.
Panic, Chaos, Destruction. My work here is done.
