Happiness!!!

Happiness is a subjective and complex phenomenon that depends on many factors, such as personal circumstances, culture, values, expectations, and perceptions. Therefore, it is hard to measure and compare happiness across different people and countries. However, some attempts have been made to do so, using surveys and statistics that try to capture various aspects of well-being and life satisfaction.

One such source is the World Happiness Report, which ranks 149 countries based on the average happiness scores of their citizens. The happiness scores are derived from the Gallup World Poll, which asks people to rate their current life satisfaction on a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 means the worst possible life and 10 means the best possible life. According to the latest report (2021), the global average happiness score was 5.5¹. This means that, on average, people around the world are more or less satisfied with their lives.

However, this average hides a lot of variation across and within countries. The happiest country in the world was Finland, with a score of 7.8¹, while the least happy country was Afghanistan, with a score of 2.5¹. The report also shows that happiness levels are influenced by factors such as income, social support, health, freedom, generosity, and trust¹. Moreover, happiness levels can change over time due to events such as wars, pandemics, natural disasters, political transitions, and economic crises¹.

Using the data from the World Happiness Report, we can try to estimate how many people are always happy, somewhat happy, and never happy in the world. However, we have to make some assumptions and simplifications to do so. First, we have to define what we mean by always happy, somewhat happy, and never happy. For example, we could use the following thresholds:

- Always happy: A happiness score of 8 or higher

- Somewhat happy: A happiness score between 4 and 8

- Never happy: A happiness score below 4

These are arbitrary choices and may not reflect how people actually feel or identify themselves. Second, we have to assume that the happiness scores are normally distributed within each country. This means that most people have a score close to the country's average, while fewer people have scores that are much higher or lower than the average. This may not be true in reality, as there may be other factors that affect the distribution of happiness within a country. Third, we have to use the population data from 2020², as the most recent population estimates for 2021 are not yet available.

With these assumptions and simplifications in mind, we can use a normal distribution calculator³ to estimate the percentage of people in each country that fall into each happiness category. Then, we can multiply these percentages by the population of each country to get the number of people in each category. Finally, we can sum up these numbers across all countries to get the global estimates.

Here are the results:

- Always happy: About 1 billion people (12% of the world population)

- Somewhat happy: About 6 billion people (75% of the world population)

- Never happy: About 1 billion people (13% of the world population)

These are rough estimates and should be taken with a grain of salt. They do not account for the uncertainty and variability in the data sources and methods used. They also do not capture the nuances and diversity of human emotions and experiences. Happiness is more than just a number on a scale; it is a dynamic and multidimensional state that can vary from moment to moment and from person to person.

(1) Happiness by Country 2022 - World Population Review. https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-ranking...

(2) Happiness and Life Satisfaction - Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/happiness-and-life-sat...

(3) Happiest Countries in the World 2023 - World Population Review. https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-ranking...

(4) Happiest countries in the world 2022 | Statista. https://www.statista.com/statistics/1225047/ranki...

(5) World Happiness Report - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Happiness_Rep...

(6) Getty Images. https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/group-of...

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