Sunshine really does make us happy

[Tanker]

People in sunny, outdoorsy states — Louisiana, Hawaii, Florida — say they're the happiest Americans, and researchers think they know why.
A new study comparing self-described pleasant feelings with objective measures of good living found these folks generally have reason to feel fine.

The places where people are most likely to report happiness also tend to rate high on studies comparing things like climate, crime rates, air quality and schools. Probably not surprisingly, their report in Friday's edition of the journal Science found the happiest people tend to live in the states that do well in quality-of-life studies

Ranking No. 1 in happiness was Louisiana, home of Dixieland music and Cajun/Creole cooking. Rounding out the happy five were Hawaii, Florida, Tennessee and Arizona. At the other end of the scale, last in happiness — is New York state.

The long commutes, congestion and high prices around New York City account for some of the unhappiness.

Said Economists Andrew J. Oswald of the University of Warwick in England:

"We wanted to study whether people's feelings of satisfaction with their own lives are reliable, that is, whether they match up to reality — of sunshine hours, congestion, air quality, etceteras — in their own state. And they do match."

The state-by-state list, from happiest to least cheery:

1. Louisiana

2. Hawaii

3. Florida

4. Tennessee

5. Arizona

6. South Carolina

7. Mississippi

8. Montana

9. Alabama

10. Maine

11. Wyoming

12. Alaska

13. North Carolina

14. South Dakota

15. Texas

16. Idaho

17. Vermont

18. Arkansas

19. Georgia

20. Utah

21. Oklahoma

22. Delaware

23. Colorado

24. New Mexico

25. North Dakota

26. Minnesota

27. Virginia

28. New Hampshire

29. Wisconsin

30. Oregon

31. Iowa

32. Kansas

33. Nebraska

34. West Virginia

35. Kentucky

36. Washington

37. District of Columbia

38. Missouri

39. Nevada

40. Maryland

41. Pennsylvania

42. Rhode Island

43. Ohio

44. Massachusetts

45. Illinois

46. California

47. New Jersey

48. Indiana

49. Michigan

50. Connecticut

51. New York


http://www.tweentribune.com/content/sun ... e-us-happy





does it make you happier?

[Alphanumeric]

An interesting comparison to make...


Undergraduate Degree

2009 percentage of population 25 years old and over with Bachelor Degree or more:
Rank State % Bachelor Degree
United States 27.9%
District of Columbia 48.5%
1 Massachusetts 38.2%
2 Colorado 35.9%
3 Maryland 35.7%
4 Connecticut 35.6%
5 New Jersey 34.5%
6 Virginia 34.0%
7 Vermont 33.1%
8 New York 32.4%
9 New Hampshire 32.0%
10 Minnesota 31.5%
11 Washington 31.0%
12 Illinois 30.6%
13 Rhode Island 30.5%
14 California 29.9%
15 Hawaii 29.6%
16 Kansas 29.5%
17 Oregon 29.2%
18 Delaware 28.7%
19 Utah 28.5%
20 Georgia 27.5%
21 Montana 27.4%
22 Nebraska 27.4%
23 Maine 26.9%
24 Alaska 26.6%
25 North Carolina 26.5%
26 Pennsylvania 26.4%
27 North Dakota 25.8%
28 Wisconsin 25.7%
29 Arizona 25.6%
30 Texas 25.5%
31 Florida 25.3%
32 New Mexico 25.3%
33 Missouri 25.2%
34 Iowa 25.1%
35 South Dakota 25.1%
36 Michigan 24.6%
37 South Carolina 24.3%
38 Ohio 24.1%
39 Idaho 23.9%
40 Wyoming 23.8%
41 Tennessee 23.0%
42 Oklahoma 22.7%
43 Indiana 22.5%
44 Alabama 22.0%
45 Nevada 21.8%
46 Louisiana 21.4%
47 Kentucky 21.0%
48 Mississippi 19.6%
49 Arkansas 18.9%
50 West Virginia 17.3%

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U. ... te-2009C-1


Are people more likely to be less happy with higher education?

[ElfRuler]

For the past couple of decades we were told that one has to seek higher education to establish a well paying and stable career. That poorly translated into "happiness" in the minds of most people, including myself. And for some people, that was enough of a motivation to pursue higher education. But there is always a group of people that seek higher education with the intention of gaining more knowledge, knowledge that does not hold false promises about tomorrow. The biggest mistake one could make is to assume that ones knowledge can easily be converted to currency after graduation. There are few exceptions, however, that doesn't always correlate with the ever-changing economic realities on the ground. Some people are making even a bigger mistake by making the assumption that they will find a job if only they incurred more loans to get a Masters or Ph.D.

I could see how disappointing it is for those who took loans to seek higher education only to end up with a future that offers little job opportunities and plenty of loan to pay back.

Today, if you do not have rich parents, a four year scholarship, or some government assistance, then higher education is in the business of luring young people into the hands of predatory lenders. Everyone has to assess the risks involved and be considerably cautious of whatever future promises are freely offered. Those who sought higher education have to repay loans in an unstable and barely functioning capitalistic economy today. No happiness in that.