“Is Finland Really The Happiest Country In The World?” — Vice News, 2019, 4:36 — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FPU4F-Ajh8

How would you measure “happiness” among a population? This video explores why Finland ranks atop of the UN’s World Happiness Report. The country’s dark and dismal weather may impart a depressive feeling, but it turns out there is something more impactful on happiness: social welfare. There are also two interesting observations here… When you are provided with a guaranteed basic standard of living, it frees your mind to think about other things. Also, there is less “happiness-boasting”(?) in Finland. When friends constantly talk or post about their marvelous tropical vacations and adventures, it may make you feel miserable for being a homebody. The people in Finland may be more content with their lives because they are more comfortable with their actual lives, even if that reality includes more solitude and cold weather.

What is the UN’s operational definition of “happiness”? Do you agree with how the term is defined? Is there anything else you would include in the definition?

From the video’s description: Finland has been declared the happiest country in the world for the second year in a row. On Wednesday, the United Nations released its annual World Happiness Report and confirmed the Nordic country as the reigning champion of joy. But in many ways, the land of frigid temperatures and dark winter days seems like the most unlikely of choices.