Source: Mother Jones
So last week, merely in passing, I tweeted that “Things are often better than you think, and with a little luck, maybe they might go your way,” Perhaps, people were being too pessimistic in general.
That led to a few interesting emails and DMs, which eventually sent me hunting for some more (confirming) data. Which led to the chart above.
Here is the amazing datapoint on this:
In every single country, the average estimate of happiness is far lower than actual reported happiness. Every single country! In the US, 90% of people say they’re happy, but the average guess is that only 50 percent of people say they’re happy.
I don’t doubt that is true, and I have several theories why. Its a fascinating topic well worth exploring . . .
Source:
Are We Too Pessimistic About Happiness?
Kevin Drum
Mother Jones, June 9, 2019
See also:
Danny Kahneman on how we’re so wrong about happiness
