Happiest countries in the world and chemicals abuse

I’ve hardly ever seen people smiling on the street or in shops in Northern Europe, whereas in Greece, Spain, Portugal, and Italy people generally appear happy and welcoming.

There’s no doubt that grey weather, constant rain, and long dark winters in the North contribute to a low mood and depression.

In the Caribbean, by contrast, people appear smiling, dancing, and engaging with each other openly all the time. Even though many don’t have much materially, they give the impression of enjoying life and experiencing far less stress.

Indonesia takes this even further: people not only smile, but often come across as genuinely warm, helpful, and caring.

For people who don’t travel much, a “country happiness index” can be a helpful overview (if it’s created accurately). But for those lucky enough to have traveled quite a lot and spent time in different regions of the world, such an index is largely useless, as personal direct experience gives a much clearer sense of the true happiness levels in each country.

Happiness rankings are determined by analyzing comprehensive Gallup polling data from 149 countries in six particular categories: gross domestic product per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make your own life choices, generosity of the general population, and perceptions of internal and external corruption levels.

Very little of that has anything to do with the emotion of happiness or how people feel, but according to the ideology of the socialist-backed organizations who create these sorts of rankings, these are things that are necessary for happiness so they are assumed as preconditions in the scoring.

Justit said:

I’ve hardly ever seen people smiling on the street or in shops in Northern Europe, whereas in Greece, Spain, Portugal, and Italy people generally appear happy and welcoming.

At 7 am, Monday, still no Wine in the blood 😅 a kind of zombies or aliens.

Let’s also compare Russia and the USA. In the US, people often smile at others, even strangers. In Russia, it’s rare to see a smile on someone’s face in public.

It’s not due to alcohol or antidepressants - it’s a different philosophy.

Americans tend to interpret a smile as a sign of friendliness and politeness. Russians, on the other hand, believe that a smile should be reserved only for people they truly care about, while strangers don’t automatically deserve one. From their perspective, the constant smiling in the US is fake and insincere.

This shows that the presence or absence of smiles doesn’t necessarily reveal people’s happiness - it often reflects cultural upbringing and social norms.

Vodka/beer/rum/wine work too, but today the pharma lobby is more powerful than the alcohol one.

Marty McFly said:

Vodka/beer/rum/wine work too, but today the pharma lobby is more powerful than the alcohol one.

I wanted to make a contrarian thread in biohacking.

We have falling numbers of alcohol consumed and cigars smoked.

Both make us social.

I would argue it is much better to have a couple of drinks out. Get to know someone. Experience something.

Than scrolling TikTok alone the whole night.

A lot can happen on the internet. But most things that actually matter are happening offline.

No doubt that going out and socializing can be good - if people you meet are worth spending time with. Otherwise, it is better to spend some time alone.

I also don’t doubt that endless TikTok scrolling harms our brain. But also alcohol and cigars damage our health. Even just a few drinks occasionally.

Is it really impossible to live without these health damaging habits?

If you need chemical aid for “socializing”, you have a problem.

Marty McFly said:

If you need chemical aid for “socializing”, you have a problem.

I have a problem to find somebody who I'm able to go beyond 'shallow' socializing... tired of nodding to bullshit people keep talking about

When you've spent a couple months during wintertime in one these Nordic countries that are on top of the list, you know this list is utter BS