Here are some new alterations I have done for my working hypothesis for
Happiness concentrating on including the new Courage factor to deal with
Fear. I have previously written out a hypothesis on achieving Happiness
in an article called "The 4 Factors of Happiness". I have changed some
old ways of explanations in some parts. I have also included the way to
achieve long term Happiness. Any comment and suggestion is welcomed.
As
explained before, I perceive concepts in mental models that would
easily lose some meaning upon translation into the written language.
Their structures can also be easily changed drastically with the input
of additional information that would then require totally new
translations for up-to-date accuracy. I could have chosen not to write
them out since the original intact information are already in my head
for my own benefit but I choose to do so for the sake of others. So the
things I have written in my group updates or anywhere else — people
reading them can choose to take it or leave it.
To feel short term feelings of happiness
- one must already have ability to feel harmony/peace to maintain balance and focus
-
one must have some liberation such as those of
money/skills/influence/connection to be confident that one can change
things and resolve restrictions to gain liberation
- one must have intense curiosity that would lure one to resolve certain restrictions
-
one must have true kind of courage to effectively resolve restrictions
and fears leading to liberation that is the feelings of happiness
To feel sustainable feelings of happiness
-
one must hold on to long term hopes of a happy future that would
constantly bias one to perceive positivity/harmony in life. Such hopes
can bias one to desire to increase one's existing liberation to prepare
oneself to experience the future happiness that comes with a higher
level of harmony
Showing posts with label positive psychology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label positive psychology. Show all posts
Friday, March 7, 2014
The 4 Factors of Happiness
Happy experiences arise when there are 4 factors present. And they
are very much linked to the process of fulfilling one's curiosity:
1. The person has to be in realization of his/her already-abundant liberation/freedom,
2. must already be surrounded by qualities of compatibility/harmony/beauty/peace,
3. has to experience his/her curiosity of something being fulfilled in the present now moment,
4. the curious experience must enhance one's current level of compatibility/harmony/beauty/peace.
It takes as much as 4 factors for a person to be technically 'happy', which is why it is not an easy and frequent emotion to achieve.
Let me give an example based on the 4 factors—
Factor 1 — A person has enough freedom and money to feel the liberation to do what he wants. Factor 2— He has to be living in an environment that he is comfortable with, most likely a large, beautiful and tranquil house. Factor 3 — He is currently playing an interesting game or eating a very tasty exotic dessert that he is curious about and Factor 4 — it generates very pleasurable/harmonious feelings. He is feeling very contented and has no desire for other things. Such a scenario is what most people would generally recognize as a happy moment. Another similar happy experience could be that of a person on an exotic holiday or a birthday boy or girl opening many nice presents.
The above stated is the highest level of Happiness possible. The second highest level of Happiness is when a person has factors 1 and 2, but is in the process of working towards achieving factors 3 and 4. An example is a person in a liberating and compatible environment working or waiting to watch an exciting movie, TV drama, game or waiting to eat delicious food in a nice restaurant with good company. The third level of Happiness only contains factors 1 and 2. An example would be a wealthy person feeling liberated from poverty and living in a beautiful home. However, such a situation without fulfilling curiosity would easily lead to boredom and has potential to easily dip into the depressing emptiness that many wealthy people often feel.
The common notion of finding Happiness is to focus on feeling "positive" or "looking on the bright side of things". However, these old sayings were very vague because people did not really understand the meaning of feeling "positive" as there were no clearer and more definite explanations.
A psychiatrist once told me that his definition of finding Happiness is to "feel satisfied", which is similar to practicing gratitude or feeling grateful/contented for what one has. However, feeling grateful is still not a clear enough method to properly gain Happiness because if a person tries to feel grateful for his miserable current circumstances, he will still be focused on the limitations/restrictions that exists in his current reality which will constantly remind him of his own misery — this will only get him stuck/stagnant on feeling miserable. The right method is to firstly get the person focused on feeling grateful for the liberation that he possess, which he can use to improve his current situation.
I feel it is the focusing on one's liberation that is the first most crucial step to truly make one feel happy later on. By using the liberation/freedom to simply go out and do one's favorite things and be more creative and expressive allows the practice of one's liberation. It is the exciting rush of feeling free that I believe constitutes the true emotions of Happiness. People in this world have lots of access to do lots of great things, they just don't realize it. Happiness is a feeling that requires an active process to manifest, which is through the practice of one's existing liberation. Misery is the direct opposite of Happiness. People feel miserable because they feel stagnant/stuck by lots of restrictions and limitations and they can't feel free.
So, there is always an important reason how a person feels happy, there is no way people can feel happy for no reason as one book about Happiness has claimed. A person is happy because he is focused on his liberating freedom that is the true explanation of "feeling positive", and as he uses his liberation to do what is beneficial for him, he feels the exciting/adventurous/adrenaline rush of freedom/liberation that is the emotion of Happiness. And does not matter if he tries and fails, it is the intention that matters so there will be no regret of not trying. And as he does this kind of "focus on liberation" constantly to find his true self, his mental and physical well-being can improve drastically and he will become a more wholesome and healthy individual.
Even if a person has a terminal illness but chooses to focus on things that gives him liberation, he can still be happy. Remembering past memories of how one achieved great liberation for the self can also revive the old feelings of happiness and can motivate one to regain it in the present.
The old method of "feeling positive" and "looking on the bright side of things" requires the person to look for liberation outside of the self, which is wrong. The right way is to firstly recognize the liberation within the self/perception and work from there.
I have thought about why gays are given such a name. "Gay" also means happy and I think that is a very suitable description because gays constantly focus on feeling liberated through the process of being unique and creative or self-expressive, which makes them happy.
I perceive a happiness instructor to be very similar to a personal fitness instructor, the client has to be constantly reminded to focus on their liberating strengths rather than their negative focus on restriction, in order to change their old behaviors and improve themselves. So it is possible to be very mentally fit in happiness/liberation.
1. The person has to be in realization of his/her already-abundant liberation/freedom,
2. must already be surrounded by qualities of compatibility/harmony/beauty/peace,
3. has to experience his/her curiosity of something being fulfilled in the present now moment,
4. the curious experience must enhance one's current level of compatibility/harmony/beauty/peace.
It takes as much as 4 factors for a person to be technically 'happy', which is why it is not an easy and frequent emotion to achieve.
Let me give an example based on the 4 factors—
Factor 1 — A person has enough freedom and money to feel the liberation to do what he wants. Factor 2— He has to be living in an environment that he is comfortable with, most likely a large, beautiful and tranquil house. Factor 3 — He is currently playing an interesting game or eating a very tasty exotic dessert that he is curious about and Factor 4 — it generates very pleasurable/harmonious feelings. He is feeling very contented and has no desire for other things. Such a scenario is what most people would generally recognize as a happy moment. Another similar happy experience could be that of a person on an exotic holiday or a birthday boy or girl opening many nice presents.
The above stated is the highest level of Happiness possible. The second highest level of Happiness is when a person has factors 1 and 2, but is in the process of working towards achieving factors 3 and 4. An example is a person in a liberating and compatible environment working or waiting to watch an exciting movie, TV drama, game or waiting to eat delicious food in a nice restaurant with good company. The third level of Happiness only contains factors 1 and 2. An example would be a wealthy person feeling liberated from poverty and living in a beautiful home. However, such a situation without fulfilling curiosity would easily lead to boredom and has potential to easily dip into the depressing emptiness that many wealthy people often feel.
The common notion of finding Happiness is to focus on feeling "positive" or "looking on the bright side of things". However, these old sayings were very vague because people did not really understand the meaning of feeling "positive" as there were no clearer and more definite explanations.
A psychiatrist once told me that his definition of finding Happiness is to "feel satisfied", which is similar to practicing gratitude or feeling grateful/contented for what one has. However, feeling grateful is still not a clear enough method to properly gain Happiness because if a person tries to feel grateful for his miserable current circumstances, he will still be focused on the limitations/restrictions that exists in his current reality which will constantly remind him of his own misery — this will only get him stuck/stagnant on feeling miserable. The right method is to firstly get the person focused on feeling grateful for the liberation that he possess, which he can use to improve his current situation.
I feel it is the focusing on one's liberation that is the first most crucial step to truly make one feel happy later on. By using the liberation/freedom to simply go out and do one's favorite things and be more creative and expressive allows the practice of one's liberation. It is the exciting rush of feeling free that I believe constitutes the true emotions of Happiness. People in this world have lots of access to do lots of great things, they just don't realize it. Happiness is a feeling that requires an active process to manifest, which is through the practice of one's existing liberation. Misery is the direct opposite of Happiness. People feel miserable because they feel stagnant/stuck by lots of restrictions and limitations and they can't feel free.
So, there is always an important reason how a person feels happy, there is no way people can feel happy for no reason as one book about Happiness has claimed. A person is happy because he is focused on his liberating freedom that is the true explanation of "feeling positive", and as he uses his liberation to do what is beneficial for him, he feels the exciting/adventurous/adrenaline rush of freedom/liberation that is the emotion of Happiness. And does not matter if he tries and fails, it is the intention that matters so there will be no regret of not trying. And as he does this kind of "focus on liberation" constantly to find his true self, his mental and physical well-being can improve drastically and he will become a more wholesome and healthy individual.
Even if a person has a terminal illness but chooses to focus on things that gives him liberation, he can still be happy. Remembering past memories of how one achieved great liberation for the self can also revive the old feelings of happiness and can motivate one to regain it in the present.
The old method of "feeling positive" and "looking on the bright side of things" requires the person to look for liberation outside of the self, which is wrong. The right way is to firstly recognize the liberation within the self/perception and work from there.
I have thought about why gays are given such a name. "Gay" also means happy and I think that is a very suitable description because gays constantly focus on feeling liberated through the process of being unique and creative or self-expressive, which makes them happy.
I perceive a happiness instructor to be very similar to a personal fitness instructor, the client has to be constantly reminded to focus on their liberating strengths rather than their negative focus on restriction, in order to change their old behaviors and improve themselves. So it is possible to be very mentally fit in happiness/liberation.
Examining The Difference and Compatibility Between Hedonic and Eudaimonic Happiness
There are different forms of Happiness discussed in Positive Psychology.
I believe that the 2 main kinds of Hedonic and Eudaimonic Happiness
have different range and concentration of focus and they both apply in
dealing with 2 similarly different range and concentration of negative
disturbances/limitations usually perceived as disturbing/distressing
events in life.
Hedonic and Eudaimonic Happiness can work together quite like ensuring a car can move smoothly on the road. Hedonic happiness is quite like the wheels of a car that individually lifts a car above the ground. Together with the long stretch of concrete road that also lifts the car above raw non-traversable terrain, they both allow the car to go where it needs to go.
I feel Hedonic Happiness is a smaller and concentrated range of Happiness dealing to offset small concentrated forms of negative disturbances/limitations that occur in daily life. For example, the car wheels offsets the strong disturbances/limitations of many small striking rocks on the road. Eudaimonc Happiness is a broader and longer range of Happiness dealing to offset less concentrated prolonged forms of negative disturbances/limitations. For example, the road serves to offset the less-prominent uneven prolonged disturbances/limitations found on raw uneven terrain.
Hedonic and Eudaimonic Happiness can work together quite like ensuring a car can move smoothly on the road. Hedonic happiness is quite like the wheels of a car that individually lifts a car above the ground. Together with the long stretch of concrete road that also lifts the car above raw non-traversable terrain, they both allow the car to go where it needs to go.
I feel Hedonic Happiness is a smaller and concentrated range of Happiness dealing to offset small concentrated forms of negative disturbances/limitations that occur in daily life. For example, the car wheels offsets the strong disturbances/limitations of many small striking rocks on the road. Eudaimonc Happiness is a broader and longer range of Happiness dealing to offset less concentrated prolonged forms of negative disturbances/limitations. For example, the road serves to offset the less-prominent uneven prolonged disturbances/limitations found on raw uneven terrain.
The Answers on How to Create and Sustain Happiness Indefinitely
There are many positive psychologists doing many studies about Happiness in the world. But they often ask stupid, superficial, materialistic and heavily distracted people for their opinions on how to achieve Happiness that is why they usually get stupid answers from them that only takes them round and round on a wild goose chase to really understand the nature of Happiness.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/significant-results/201308/whats-so-positive-about-positive-psychology
If the positive psychologists would continue to rely on the research data from such stupid worldly people forever then they will forever never get to fully understand Happiness (so this is where I come in).
But at least the positive psychologists have gotten an accurate grouping of the different types of Happiness seen from Hedonic(pleasurable feelings), Eudaimonic(greater good), Chaironic Happiness(spiritual-based Happiness) and prudential Happiness(sense of flow).
Positive psychologists have been trying to understand what really creates Happiness, they have also been searching for the ways to sustain the feelings of Happiness in people by getting them to constantly feel positive about life.
The answers are actually very simple. I have mentioned before that the feelings of Happiness comes from the feelings that come from achieving liberation and feeling liberated from restrictions.
The way to get people to constantly feel positive about life comes from getting them to hold on to a kind of hope that something very liberating and harmonious will happen to them in the future.
When people hold on to such hopes of something positive/harmonious happening to them in the future, they would not be biased to focus on the bad/disharmonious aspects of life in their present but they would be biased to focus more on the positive/harmonious aspects of life. Since they think the future would get better for them, they would therefore start and prepare to increase the positive/harmomious liberating aspects of life in their present while minimizing the negative/disharmonious restrictions currently found around them. They would also focus on treating themselves and others with harmony while they prepare to experience their positive harmonious kind of life in the future. They would therefore be constantly sustaining themselves to feel positive and be happy by focusing on the harmonious and liberating aspects of life that would generate the feelings of happiness.
The level of harmony found in one's future hopes is related to the level of harmony being perceived and practiced in the present.
The Happiness set point of how people normally feel most of the time, can be therefore be changed with the kind of hope held for the future.
If people think that there is a God who would punish them for their sins then they would lead a life where they constantly fear doing wrong things. They would get influenced by the Bible to hate sinful people in order to get to Heaven so they will go on their fanatic mission to try to take down gay people because they thought such a behaviour is their gateway to Heaven. The Christian religion was distorted by the ancient rulers to control people's behaviour and lessen the misbehaving people, it has now only turned to a huge bunch of nonsense.
But if people think that there is an all-understanding and accepting God, then they would not hold themselves accountable for anything they choose to do. They will do what they want with their own lives.
If people believe such things as having the possibility to ascend to a higher dimensional world where they would become beautiful and wouldn't age, they would not be too caught up by the limitations of the materialistic world and influences of the nasty people because they know they would be able to get away from it all eventually and get to go to a beautiful paradise world of immense harmony.
The amount of liberation found in people's lives and the reminder of such would create the onset manifesting feelings of Happiness. People's daily level of positivity that comes from perceiving harmony is dependent/sustained by the level of harmony found in their future hopes.
There is a relevant video that supports what I wrote—
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/significant-results/201308/whats-so-positive-about-positive-psychology
If the positive psychologists would continue to rely on the research data from such stupid worldly people forever then they will forever never get to fully understand Happiness (so this is where I come in).
But at least the positive psychologists have gotten an accurate grouping of the different types of Happiness seen from Hedonic(pleasurable feelings), Eudaimonic(greater good), Chaironic Happiness(spiritual-based Happiness) and prudential Happiness(sense of flow).
Positive psychologists have been trying to understand what really creates Happiness, they have also been searching for the ways to sustain the feelings of Happiness in people by getting them to constantly feel positive about life.
The answers are actually very simple. I have mentioned before that the feelings of Happiness comes from the feelings that come from achieving liberation and feeling liberated from restrictions.
The way to get people to constantly feel positive about life comes from getting them to hold on to a kind of hope that something very liberating and harmonious will happen to them in the future.
When people hold on to such hopes of something positive/harmonious happening to them in the future, they would not be biased to focus on the bad/disharmonious aspects of life in their present but they would be biased to focus more on the positive/harmonious aspects of life. Since they think the future would get better for them, they would therefore start and prepare to increase the positive/harmomious liberating aspects of life in their present while minimizing the negative/disharmonious restrictions currently found around them. They would also focus on treating themselves and others with harmony while they prepare to experience their positive harmonious kind of life in the future. They would therefore be constantly sustaining themselves to feel positive and be happy by focusing on the harmonious and liberating aspects of life that would generate the feelings of happiness.
The level of harmony found in one's future hopes is related to the level of harmony being perceived and practiced in the present.
The Happiness set point of how people normally feel most of the time, can be therefore be changed with the kind of hope held for the future.
If people think that there is a God who would punish them for their sins then they would lead a life where they constantly fear doing wrong things. They would get influenced by the Bible to hate sinful people in order to get to Heaven so they will go on their fanatic mission to try to take down gay people because they thought such a behaviour is their gateway to Heaven. The Christian religion was distorted by the ancient rulers to control people's behaviour and lessen the misbehaving people, it has now only turned to a huge bunch of nonsense.
But if people think that there is an all-understanding and accepting God, then they would not hold themselves accountable for anything they choose to do. They will do what they want with their own lives.
If people believe such things as having the possibility to ascend to a higher dimensional world where they would become beautiful and wouldn't age, they would not be too caught up by the limitations of the materialistic world and influences of the nasty people because they know they would be able to get away from it all eventually and get to go to a beautiful paradise world of immense harmony.
The amount of liberation found in people's lives and the reminder of such would create the onset manifesting feelings of Happiness. People's daily level of positivity that comes from perceiving harmony is dependent/sustained by the level of harmony found in their future hopes.
There is a relevant video that supports what I wrote—
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Getting The Full Dirt on Denmark, The 'Happiest Nation' in the World
Denmark was mentioned to be the "Happiest Nation" in an international survey while also having the highest taxes in the world. As I examined the Danish culture closely, I managed to understand the true nature of their kind of "Happiness".
World's happiest nations are... (Top 10)
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/09/business/earth-institute-world-happiness-rankings/
The Happiest (and Saddest) Countries
http://www.livescience.com/39489-the-happiest-countries.html
Very Flawed and Subjective Global Happiness Survey
The international survey to gauge people's level of "happiness" was actually very flawed, because firstly, the interpretation of the Happiness emotion is very subjective and people from the different countries interviewed might not be referring to the same emotional state when the survey was conducted. My definition of Happiness is based on freedom/liberation. Secondly, it is not the same group of people who are measuring Happiness across different countries therefore there is no real comparison and measurement of the same thing. Therefore, the global Happiness survey is pretty much asking people of different nationalities what they feel of something that is only found in their own country.
Oprah in Denmark
From a TV segment where Oprah visited Denmark, the Danes mentioned their source of Happiness as coming from many areas. They value group gatherings, contentment, a sense of financial and social security as the main factors of their Happiness. Oprah interviews one of the Danish women and asks whether Denmark practices socialism and she said no.
Oprah Visits Denmark Part 1
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTM5OTcwOTMy.html
Oprah Visits Denmark Part 2
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTM5OTczMTI0.html
Women Around the World
http://www.oprah.com/world/Inside-the-Lives-of-Women-Around-the-World/1
60 Mins on Denmark
The young Danish students interviewed in a 60 Mins interview might seem very confident and speaking too soon on not requiring much money to feel happy, but wait till they get older and enter the workforce and start a family would they fully realize the importance of money as crucial for basic happiness.
And The Happiest Place On Earth Is...
Morley Safer On Why The Danes Are Considered The Happiest People On Earth
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/and-the-happiest-place-on-earth-is/
High Pollution-Contributing Rate From Meat-Eating
Denmark is among one of the heaviest consumers of meat in the world ranked at 9th and 11th places in different reports. The meat industry is one of the heaviest production of pollution, green house gases and suffering to animals. Although cycling is one of the main modes of travel for the Danes, I don't think it can offset much of their contributed pollution that comes from animal farming. It seems that cold cut meats are very convenient and matches very well with their staple of dark rye bread, but such a convenience comes with a huge expense at the planet's ecosystem.
(Denmark ranked at 9th place)
Ranking of 171 Countries by Per Capita Meat Consumption (MC), 2005
http://vegetarian.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=004716#III
15 Michelin stars for Danish restaurants
http://usa.um.dk/en/news/newsdisplaypage/?newsid=3303c4dc-8218-407b-82fd-169a22b865f3
Meat: Making Global Warming Worse
http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1839995,00.html
The No.1 Ranking for Cancer Rate in the World
Grilled red meat shops are popular in Denmark and Denmark has the highest number of meat-cooking grills per capita. This high consumption of red meat correlates with Denmark having the top spot for the rate of cancer for all countries in the world, which seems too high of a direct correlation even if their free medical system allows more people to be detected from the life-threatening disease. The exercise the Danes get from cycling don't seem to be able to offset the effects of the toxins that come from eating cooked meat.
(Even a Danish Professor from the Department of Public Health at a Danish University has advised on the cutting down of red meat)
Barbecue season: cut down on the red meat.
http://skt.au.dk/en/current/article/artikel/grilltid-skaer-ned-paa-det-roede-koed/
Cancer rate per 100,000 ranked 1st in the world
Data for cancer frequency by country
http://www.wcrf.org/cancer_statistics/cancer_frequency.php
Denmark Leads the World in Highest Cancer Rates
http://tissuepathology.com/2014/02/07/denmark-leads-the-world-in-highest-cancer-rates/#axzz2t9ip1yZs
Why is Denmark the cancer capital of the world?
www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8277418/Why-is-Denmark-the-cancer-capital-of-the-world.html
bladder cancer rate per 100,000 ranked 9th in the world
http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/bladder-cancer/by-country/
breast cancer rate per 100,000 ranked 9th in the world
http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/breast-cancer/by-country/
colon-rectum cancer rate per 100,000 ranked 6th in the world
http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/colon-rectum-cancers/by-country/
lung cancer rate per 100,000 ranked 6th in the world
http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/lung-cancers/by-country/
ovary cancer rate per 100,000 ranked 11th in the world
http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/ovary-cancer/by-country/
Denmark Having One of the Highest Alcohol Death Rate at 4th Place
Alcohol death rate per 100,000 ranked 4th in the world
www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/alcohol/by-country/
Youth Drinking Culture in Denmark
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDLo4V2iob4
Denmark Ranked 11th in the World for Suicide Rate(Data is for 2005)
World suicide rates by country(per 100,000)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/suiciderate.html
(January 15, 2014)
Rising number of suicides on train tracks
http://cphpost.dk/news/rising-number-of-suicides-on-train-tracks.8320.html
Happiest places have highest suicide rates says new research
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/happiness-and-suicide-rates
Putative Effect of Alcohol on Suicide Attempters: An Evaluative Study in a Tertiary Medical College
http://www.ijpm.info/article.asp?issn=0253-7176;year%3D2012;volume%3D34;issue%3D4;spage%3D371;epage%3D375;aulast%3DBhattacharjee
Denmark Ranked 4th in the World for Anti-Depressant Consumption
The OECD Warns on Antidepressant Overprescribing
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/side-effects/201311/the-oecd-warns-antidepressant-overprescribing
(January 7, 2014)
Antidepressant regulations tightened following suicide
http://cphpost.dk/news/antidepressant-regulations-tightened-following-suicide.8243.html
(A comment from a Danish reader)
"Calvin Bernhardt — Denmark is facing some serious problems with a large population of distraught young people. You can't put everyone on Prozac. People need a purpose in life."
It seems like drug medication for ADHD is also on the rise in Denmark--
(April 15, 2013)
Boom in number treated for ADHD
http://cphpost.dk/news/boom-in-number-treated-for-adhd.4970.html
Highest Household Debt in the World
Denmark has the highest household debt in the world, no doubt their high taxes and 25% goods and service tax being some of the main contributors. While their high tax rate has enabled Denmark to have the supposed smallest rich-poor gap in the world, I perceive the small gap to represent the bridge between those in financial debt and those who are not.
World-Beating Debt Burden Is No ‘Serious Threat’ to Denmark
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-01-06/world-s-highest-household-debt-burden-probed-by-danish-council
A Nation of Complainers
The Danes complain about many things including their high taxes. One Dane even has written a book just to thoroughly complain about his country having many people suffering from narcissism and collectivism. You will get to read about some of the most horrible and miserable Danes that he observed first-hand in Denmark.
Denmark the most awful nation on earth. Collectivism's biggest propaganda hoax.!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp55UI_TbbU
His Facebook Profile
https://www.facebook.com/TheWayOfFreedom?hc_location=stream
Facebook Page of His Book
https://www.facebook.com/ManipulismAndTheWeaponOfGuilt
His YouTube Channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/TrueSocialismTV/videos
Does Denmark Practice Socialism?
I have heard some Danes commenting that Denmark is a socialist society but I am quite confused by all their different descriptions and how it doesn't fit in with the definitions mentioned elsewhere. I do not think that all Danes practice socialism, but the kind of welfare state management does make it a good foundation for socialism, collectivism and communism to occur, whether or not their government and some of its citizens officially declare to be supporters of such practices. Denmark does have a Socialist People's Party in the Government.
Danish PM Blindsided as Ministers Quit in Goldman Spat
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-30/goldman-deal-on-danish-energy-splits-copenhagen-coalition.html
Welfare State
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare_state
Denmark Described to Be Horrible
A Social Anthropologist on Denmark
http://www.partapuoli.com/Texts/A_horrible_place.htm
How a Welfare State Such as Denmark Can Fail For Some Citizens
To survive well in Denmark, one has to take good advantage of the free education and free medical care to later on earn a good salary. If one doesn't take advantage of the free education in Denmark to study up to the university level, one could end up with a comparatively low-paying job and end up in financial debt and social welfare as one starts a family, which could then lead to the consumption of anti-depressants, alcohol abuse and suicide.
Some Danes have claimed that Denmark has the smallest gap in social disparity. However, this small gap only seem to apply on the financial aspect. For other areas like mental health, physical health and Happiness, there seems to be a very large gap between 2 distinct groups of Danish people — a gap that seems to be the largest in the world.
Margaret Thatcher on Socialism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okHGCz6xxiw
Since not everyone in society has high-enough intelligence to complete a university degree, there would always be people who would not be able to gain high education and end up with a much lower-paying job compared to the rest of the population. Therefore, the welfare method practiced by Denmark is not a foolproof solution to reduce social disparity in the areas of income, mental health and happiness.
Race and IQ - The IQ data is out - in Danish television - YouTube.flv
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7Fdl9Kmhgs
Money is Not All That Matters
High taxes in Denmark seems to create a widening in the people who feel happy/contented and those who feel miserable. Perhaps, it is true that financial security from having money does not necessarily lead to happiness(or emotional well-being) but mainly support a sense of financial security and contentment.
If Denmark doesn't get its act together, it could decline very soon due to rising rates of cancer, alcohol deaths and debt. Denmark has a very similar population size compared to Singapore, yet Singapore doesn't have the kind of health and debt problems that the Danes face. Perhaps the tropical weather in Singapore made most of the difference.
What Kind of Happiness in Denmark?
Positive Psychology groups Happiness into 4 major types: Hedonic(pleasure), Chaironic(spiritual), Eudamonic(purpose, greater good) and Prudential(flow in life)Happiness. It seems that the Happiness found in Denmark comes mainly from the Hedonic type that comes from feeling safe, and eating and drinking in the company of others, something the Danish refer to as "hygge". I don't think their cold gloomy weather would contribute much to prudential happiness but can serve to restrict it.
But Denmark does have some amount of good artistic expression seen in their modern architecture and music. Even though Danish society can serve to induce depression, cancer and suicide like all other nations in the world, I think there can still be some exceptional Danes that could thrive even in Danish society by overcoming the restriction and feel truly Happy by achieving liberation and freedom.
The Art of Danish Hygge
http://www.visitdenmark.com/en-us/denmark/culture/art-danish-hygge
Happiness can be created responsibly as well as through apathy and indifference. I think if the Danes start to become more responsible to their health and seriously restrict the consumption of grilled red meat and alcohol, their rates for cancer, anti-depressant usage, suicide and alcohol death would greatly decrease.
Every country in the world has its own good and bad aspects. Denmark's ranking to be the happiest nation in the world might seem to be an exaggeration and over-generalization.
Update: Someone just posted a debunk video on YouTube a few days ago about Oprah and Denmark. It contains lots of video footage from Denmark TV.
Debunking Oprah's claims about Denmark
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmhX-dT78XY
World's happiest nations are... (Top 10)
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/09/business/earth-institute-world-happiness-rankings/
The Happiest (and Saddest) Countries
http://www.livescience.com/39489-the-happiest-countries.html
Very Flawed and Subjective Global Happiness Survey
The international survey to gauge people's level of "happiness" was actually very flawed, because firstly, the interpretation of the Happiness emotion is very subjective and people from the different countries interviewed might not be referring to the same emotional state when the survey was conducted. My definition of Happiness is based on freedom/liberation. Secondly, it is not the same group of people who are measuring Happiness across different countries therefore there is no real comparison and measurement of the same thing. Therefore, the global Happiness survey is pretty much asking people of different nationalities what they feel of something that is only found in their own country.
Oprah in Denmark
From a TV segment where Oprah visited Denmark, the Danes mentioned their source of Happiness as coming from many areas. They value group gatherings, contentment, a sense of financial and social security as the main factors of their Happiness. Oprah interviews one of the Danish women and asks whether Denmark practices socialism and she said no.
Oprah Visits Denmark Part 1
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTM5OTcwOTMy.html
Oprah Visits Denmark Part 2
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMTM5OTczMTI0.html
Women Around the World
http://www.oprah.com/world/Inside-the-Lives-of-Women-Around-the-World/1
60 Mins on Denmark
The young Danish students interviewed in a 60 Mins interview might seem very confident and speaking too soon on not requiring much money to feel happy, but wait till they get older and enter the workforce and start a family would they fully realize the importance of money as crucial for basic happiness.
And The Happiest Place On Earth Is...
Morley Safer On Why The Danes Are Considered The Happiest People On Earth
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/and-the-happiest-place-on-earth-is/
High Pollution-Contributing Rate From Meat-Eating
Denmark is among one of the heaviest consumers of meat in the world ranked at 9th and 11th places in different reports. The meat industry is one of the heaviest production of pollution, green house gases and suffering to animals. Although cycling is one of the main modes of travel for the Danes, I don't think it can offset much of their contributed pollution that comes from animal farming. It seems that cold cut meats are very convenient and matches very well with their staple of dark rye bread, but such a convenience comes with a huge expense at the planet's ecosystem.
(Denmark ranked at 9th place)
Ranking of 171 Countries by Per Capita Meat Consumption (MC), 2005
http://vegetarian.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=004716#III
15 Michelin stars for Danish restaurants
http://usa.um.dk/en/news/newsdisplaypage/?newsid=3303c4dc-8218-407b-82fd-169a22b865f3
Meat: Making Global Warming Worse
http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1839995,00.html
The No.1 Ranking for Cancer Rate in the World
Grilled red meat shops are popular in Denmark and Denmark has the highest number of meat-cooking grills per capita. This high consumption of red meat correlates with Denmark having the top spot for the rate of cancer for all countries in the world, which seems too high of a direct correlation even if their free medical system allows more people to be detected from the life-threatening disease. The exercise the Danes get from cycling don't seem to be able to offset the effects of the toxins that come from eating cooked meat.
(Even a Danish Professor from the Department of Public Health at a Danish University has advised on the cutting down of red meat)
Barbecue season: cut down on the red meat.
http://skt.au.dk/en/current/article/artikel/grilltid-skaer-ned-paa-det-roede-koed/
Cancer rate per 100,000 ranked 1st in the world
Data for cancer frequency by country
http://www.wcrf.org/cancer_statistics/cancer_frequency.php
Denmark Leads the World in Highest Cancer Rates
http://tissuepathology.com/2014/02/07/denmark-leads-the-world-in-highest-cancer-rates/#axzz2t9ip1yZs
Why is Denmark the cancer capital of the world?
www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8277418/Why-is-Denmark-the-cancer-capital-of-the-world.html
bladder cancer rate per 100,000 ranked 9th in the world
http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/bladder-cancer/by-country/
breast cancer rate per 100,000 ranked 9th in the world
http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/breast-cancer/by-country/
colon-rectum cancer rate per 100,000 ranked 6th in the world
http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/colon-rectum-cancers/by-country/
lung cancer rate per 100,000 ranked 6th in the world
http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/lung-cancers/by-country/
ovary cancer rate per 100,000 ranked 11th in the world
http://www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/ovary-cancer/by-country/
Denmark Having One of the Highest Alcohol Death Rate at 4th Place
Alcohol death rate per 100,000 ranked 4th in the world
www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/cause-of-death/alcohol/by-country/
Youth Drinking Culture in Denmark
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDLo4V2iob4
Denmark Ranked 11th in the World for Suicide Rate(Data is for 2005)
World suicide rates by country(per 100,000)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/world/suiciderate.html
(January 15, 2014)
Rising number of suicides on train tracks
http://cphpost.dk/news/rising-number-of-suicides-on-train-tracks.8320.html
Happiest places have highest suicide rates says new research
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/newsandevents/pressreleases/happiness-and-suicide-rates
Putative Effect of Alcohol on Suicide Attempters: An Evaluative Study in a Tertiary Medical College
http://www.ijpm.info/article.asp?issn=0253-7176;year%3D2012;volume%3D34;issue%3D4;spage%3D371;epage%3D375;aulast%3DBhattacharjee
Denmark Ranked 4th in the World for Anti-Depressant Consumption
The OECD Warns on Antidepressant Overprescribing
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/side-effects/201311/the-oecd-warns-antidepressant-overprescribing
(January 7, 2014)
Antidepressant regulations tightened following suicide
http://cphpost.dk/news/antidepressant-regulations-tightened-following-suicide.8243.html
(A comment from a Danish reader)
"Calvin Bernhardt — Denmark is facing some serious problems with a large population of distraught young people. You can't put everyone on Prozac. People need a purpose in life."
It seems like drug medication for ADHD is also on the rise in Denmark--
(April 15, 2013)
Boom in number treated for ADHD
http://cphpost.dk/news/boom-in-number-treated-for-adhd.4970.html
Highest Household Debt in the World
Denmark has the highest household debt in the world, no doubt their high taxes and 25% goods and service tax being some of the main contributors. While their high tax rate has enabled Denmark to have the supposed smallest rich-poor gap in the world, I perceive the small gap to represent the bridge between those in financial debt and those who are not.
World-Beating Debt Burden Is No ‘Serious Threat’ to Denmark
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-01-06/world-s-highest-household-debt-burden-probed-by-danish-council
A Nation of Complainers
The Danes complain about many things including their high taxes. One Dane even has written a book just to thoroughly complain about his country having many people suffering from narcissism and collectivism. You will get to read about some of the most horrible and miserable Danes that he observed first-hand in Denmark.
Denmark the most awful nation on earth. Collectivism's biggest propaganda hoax.!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp55UI_TbbU
His Facebook Profile
https://www.facebook.com/TheWayOfFreedom?hc_location=stream
Facebook Page of His Book
https://www.facebook.com/ManipulismAndTheWeaponOfGuilt
His YouTube Channel
http://www.youtube.com/user/TrueSocialismTV/videos
Does Denmark Practice Socialism?
I have heard some Danes commenting that Denmark is a socialist society but I am quite confused by all their different descriptions and how it doesn't fit in with the definitions mentioned elsewhere. I do not think that all Danes practice socialism, but the kind of welfare state management does make it a good foundation for socialism, collectivism and communism to occur, whether or not their government and some of its citizens officially declare to be supporters of such practices. Denmark does have a Socialist People's Party in the Government.
Danish PM Blindsided as Ministers Quit in Goldman Spat
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-30/goldman-deal-on-danish-energy-splits-copenhagen-coalition.html
Welfare State
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welfare_state
Denmark Described to Be Horrible
A Social Anthropologist on Denmark
http://www.partapuoli.com/Texts/A_horrible_place.htm
How a Welfare State Such as Denmark Can Fail For Some Citizens
To survive well in Denmark, one has to take good advantage of the free education and free medical care to later on earn a good salary. If one doesn't take advantage of the free education in Denmark to study up to the university level, one could end up with a comparatively low-paying job and end up in financial debt and social welfare as one starts a family, which could then lead to the consumption of anti-depressants, alcohol abuse and suicide.
Some Danes have claimed that Denmark has the smallest gap in social disparity. However, this small gap only seem to apply on the financial aspect. For other areas like mental health, physical health and Happiness, there seems to be a very large gap between 2 distinct groups of Danish people — a gap that seems to be the largest in the world.
Margaret Thatcher on Socialism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okHGCz6xxiw
Since not everyone in society has high-enough intelligence to complete a university degree, there would always be people who would not be able to gain high education and end up with a much lower-paying job compared to the rest of the population. Therefore, the welfare method practiced by Denmark is not a foolproof solution to reduce social disparity in the areas of income, mental health and happiness.
Race and IQ - The IQ data is out - in Danish television - YouTube.flv
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7Fdl9Kmhgs
Money is Not All That Matters
High taxes in Denmark seems to create a widening in the people who feel happy/contented and those who feel miserable. Perhaps, it is true that financial security from having money does not necessarily lead to happiness(or emotional well-being) but mainly support a sense of financial security and contentment.
If Denmark doesn't get its act together, it could decline very soon due to rising rates of cancer, alcohol deaths and debt. Denmark has a very similar population size compared to Singapore, yet Singapore doesn't have the kind of health and debt problems that the Danes face. Perhaps the tropical weather in Singapore made most of the difference.
What Kind of Happiness in Denmark?
Positive Psychology groups Happiness into 4 major types: Hedonic(pleasure), Chaironic(spiritual), Eudamonic(purpose, greater good) and Prudential(flow in life)Happiness. It seems that the Happiness found in Denmark comes mainly from the Hedonic type that comes from feeling safe, and eating and drinking in the company of others, something the Danish refer to as "hygge". I don't think their cold gloomy weather would contribute much to prudential happiness but can serve to restrict it.
But Denmark does have some amount of good artistic expression seen in their modern architecture and music. Even though Danish society can serve to induce depression, cancer and suicide like all other nations in the world, I think there can still be some exceptional Danes that could thrive even in Danish society by overcoming the restriction and feel truly Happy by achieving liberation and freedom.
The Art of Danish Hygge
http://www.visitdenmark.com/en-us/denmark/culture/art-danish-hygge
Happiness can be created responsibly as well as through apathy and indifference. I think if the Danes start to become more responsible to their health and seriously restrict the consumption of grilled red meat and alcohol, their rates for cancer, anti-depressant usage, suicide and alcohol death would greatly decrease.
Every country in the world has its own good and bad aspects. Denmark's ranking to be the happiest nation in the world might seem to be an exaggeration and over-generalization.
Update: Someone just posted a debunk video on YouTube a few days ago about Oprah and Denmark. It contains lots of video footage from Denmark TV.
Debunking Oprah's claims about Denmark
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmhX-dT78XY
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