Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
    China
    Home / China / Melting pot

    Material pursuits deprive us of happiness

    By David Blair | China Daily | Updated: 2017-05-09 07:31
    Share
    Share - WeChat

    I recently stumbled on an online video of The Happy Song, which is designed to make babies happy.

    British psychologists used babies' brainwaves to find out what kinds of sounds make them happy. The babies like, for example, words that start with the letters "P" and "B", but not with "L". They like the pitch to be in the range of a female human voice, with fast tempos. Grammy-winning songwriter Imogen Heap used this research to write The Happy Song.

    It worked. All the babies in the video started laughing on hearing the song. My 10-month-old grandniece perked up and paid close attention when she heard it.

    I hope they are working on a Happy Old Man song next.

    Bhutan, the tiny Buddhist kingdom in the Himalayas, included the goal of enhancing "Gross National Happiness" in its 2008 constitution. Amazingly, the country's Legal Code 1729 states "if the government cannot create happiness for its people, there is no purpose for the government to exist". Famously, the US Declaration of Independence says the reason governments exist is to secure the rights of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". The similar Chinese concept of "harmony" goes all the way back to Confucius.

    Unfortunately, GDP, which is the main metric of success for all countries, except Bhutan, has very little to do with happiness. It's just a measure of the "goods and services" produced by the country.

    But, some of those goods are really "bads". A company spewing chemicals into a lake would count as an increase in GDP, but no one would be happier - except maybe the company's owner. Ironically, cleaning up the lake also counts as GDP. Putting a million new cars on Beijing's roads would count as GDP, but almost everyone would be made less happy.

    Rich countries are not happier than poor ones. According to the 2015 Gallup Positive Experience Index, the South American country of Paraguay ranked happiest in the world.

    Research by Nobel Prize-winning economists Angus Deaton and Daniel Kahneman concluded that, in the United States, happiness increases with income up to about $75,000 per year. In most regions, that is about the amount a family needs to pay for the basics of life - food, housing, medical care, education, and the cars needed for transportation. After that, additional income does not lead to additional happiness. Logically, people could be made happy for less money if medical care and education were not so ridiculously expensive and if a better, cheaper, and a safer transportation system could be built.

    Research consistently shows that two factors are key to happiness - opportunities for social interaction and having a feeling of accomplishment. But in many countries, especially rich countries, society is structured to maximize goods production, while work time squeezes out social time.

    Too many people in the US work long hours and commute long distances so they can afford big houses, big cars and other material things, but they lose touch with their children and don't know their neighbors. Dangerous, car-dependent cities deprive us of needed exercise, force us to waste time on the roads, and take away the places kids need to play. Of course, there are high pressure jobs and long commutes in China, too. But, many Chinese have been able to stick with family traditions.

    Countries are like people. They need to concentrate on material goods up to a point. After that, other things are much more important.

    Top
    BACK TO THE TOP
    English
    Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
    License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

    Registration Number: 130349
    FOLLOW US
     
    色欲综合久久中文字幕网| 伊人久久精品无码二区麻豆| 天堂Aⅴ无码一区二区三区| 人妻一区二区三区无码精品一区| 在人线AV无码免费高潮喷水| 久久精品中文闷骚内射| 久久精品无码专区免费 | 国产精品无码不卡一区二区三区| 中文字幕精品一区 | 无码人妻丰满熟妇区五十路| 久久亚洲AV无码精品色午夜| 娇小性色xxxxx中文| 天堂亚洲国产中文在线| 人妻丰满熟妇AV无码区乱| 最好看的最新高清中文视频| 最近高清中文在线国语字幕5| 无码精品蜜桃一区二区三区WW | 麻豆aⅴ精品无码一区二区 | 免费无码一区二区三区蜜桃| 久久久久久久久久久久中文字幕| 亚欧无码精品无码有性视频| 国产成人无码免费网站| 国产成A人亚洲精V品无码性色| 未满十八18禁止免费无码网站 | 亚洲av成人无码久久精品| 中出人妻中文字幕无码| 无码国产精品一区二区免费虚拟VR | 最近中文字幕国语免费完整| 爆操夜夜操天天操狠操中文| 日韩高清在线中文字带字幕| 日韩欧美群交P片內射中文| 亚洲中文字幕无码一区二区三区| 欧美乱人伦中文字幕在线| 国偷自产短视频中文版| 无码中文字幕av免费放dvd| 中文成人无字幕乱码精品区| 亚洲中文字幕无码久久2020| 日本中文字幕中出在线| 亚洲日本va午夜中文字幕久久| 日韩中文字幕在线不卡| 中文字幕无码一区二区免费|