WEBVTT - What Makes the Happiest Places on Earth? 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:02.720 Guess what mango? What's that will? So when you think 0:00:02.759 --> 0:00:06.760 of fast food stories and Moscow, what comes to mind first? 0:00:07.080 --> 0:00:09.879 I don't know, maybe that old pizza hut Corbusho of 0:00:09.920 --> 0:00:13.520 commercial exactly. And I used to think that was maybe 0:00:13.520 --> 0:00:16.920 the most fun association of fast food with Moscow. But 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:20.599 I actually read another story recently and I think it 0:00:20.680 --> 0:00:22.799 might be my favorite now. So did you know that 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:25.759 when McDonald's first opened in Moscow, they actually had to 0:00:25.840 --> 0:00:29.680 train workers on how to smile and look friendly to know? 0:00:30.480 --> 0:00:33.160 Why is that? Well, it turns out there's an old 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:36.159 proverb there that goes something along the lines of a 0:00:36.280 --> 0:00:40.560 smile without reason is a sign of idiocy. That's pretty rough, 0:00:40.960 --> 0:00:43.040 and um, I mean I guess it sounds like a 0:00:43.080 --> 0:00:45.920 Russian proverb. Yeah, it's It's a phrase that obviously doesn't 0:00:45.920 --> 0:00:48.720 apply to all Russians, but it did get me thinking. 0:00:48.720 --> 0:00:52.320 You know, if if Russians are not known for smiling unnecessarily, 0:00:52.800 --> 0:00:56.040 what places are you know, where are the happiest places 0:00:56.080 --> 0:00:58.520 in the world and what are some of the secrets 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:01.240 to happiness in those places? So that's what we're talking 0:01:01.240 --> 0:01:24.960 about today. Let's dive in h a their podcast. Listeners 0:01:24.959 --> 0:01:27.240 welcome to hard Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson and as 0:01:27.280 --> 0:01:29.560 always I'm joined by my good friend man guest Ticketer. 0:01:29.880 --> 0:01:31.920 And on the other side of the soundproof class wearing 0:01:31.920 --> 0:01:34.600 the biggest smile you'll never see. That's our friend and 0:01:34.640 --> 0:01:38.480 producer Tristan McNeil. It's actually getting a little unnerving. Now 0:01:38.520 --> 0:01:40.759 what what is he smiling about? I don't think he'll 0:01:40.800 --> 0:01:43.640 ever tell us. But good news is there will be 0:01:43.680 --> 0:01:46.520 plenty of chances to smile later though, because today's show 0:01:46.880 --> 0:01:50.160 we're talking all about happiness and you know, more specifically 0:01:50.200 --> 0:01:52.240 the places in the world where you can find the 0:01:52.320 --> 0:01:56.120 most of it. Now, happiness is highly subjective, of course, 0:01:56.120 --> 0:01:57.880 and if you were to ask ten people to name 0:01:57.960 --> 0:02:01.120 what makes them happy, you probably come away with ten 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:04.360 different answers. But there are actually some aspects of happiness 0:02:04.360 --> 0:02:06.640 that are pretty universal. So we're going to talk about 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:09.480 what those factors are and how they manifest and upbeat 0:02:09.480 --> 0:02:12.160 countries all over the globe. And we're also going to 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:14.799 try to get to the bottom of why Scandinavian countries 0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:18.840 like Denmark and Norway always claim these top spots for 0:02:18.880 --> 0:02:22.560 places ranked by happiness. Yeah, why why don't we start 0:02:22.560 --> 0:02:25.200 with that? Because it really is crazy how Nordic countries 0:02:25.240 --> 0:02:28.360 tend to dominate those lists. So the u N does 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:30.760 this ranking of the happiness levels and a hundred fifty 0:02:30.760 --> 0:02:33.600 five countries called the World Happiness Report. They've done this 0:02:33.639 --> 0:02:36.959 since two thousand twelve, and every year the top five 0:02:37.000 --> 0:02:40.080 has always been some combination of Scandinavian countries, and this 0:02:40.160 --> 0:02:43.160 year is no exception. Norway is actually ranked number one 0:02:43.200 --> 0:02:46.640 for the first time, but it's followed closely by Denmark, Iceland, 0:02:46.720 --> 0:02:49.919 Switzerland and Finland. So I'm guessing a lot of our 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:52.600 listeners are wondering what I'm wondering, and that is, is 0:02:52.680 --> 0:02:56.440 this whole thing rigged? I mean, it's almost always freezing 0:02:56.520 --> 0:02:58.679 cold in these Nordic countries. You know, they've got the 0:02:58.720 --> 0:03:02.680 whole midnight sun thing where daylight last twenty four hours 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:05.320 for a month or so at a time. So no 0:03:05.480 --> 0:03:08.320 way are these the happiest places on Earth? Right? Yeah? 0:03:08.360 --> 0:03:10.640 I would have said the same thing before looking into it. 0:03:10.680 --> 0:03:13.760 But surprisingly there's some researchers who actually think Scandinavia is 0:03:13.800 --> 0:03:16.440 cold weather and all those long nights might be a 0:03:16.480 --> 0:03:19.480 big reason why those countries both such high levels of happiness, 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:23.400 and the thinking is that such an unforgiving climate that 0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:26.480 actually helps bring local communities together. I mean, the people 0:03:26.520 --> 0:03:29.120 there depending on each other for survival as well as 0:03:29.160 --> 0:03:31.680 for company in a way that people in most temperate 0:03:31.680 --> 0:03:34.960 climates don't have to. And actually, there's this professor John 0:03:35.000 --> 0:03:37.600 helli Well who was the editor for this year's Happiness Report, 0:03:37.680 --> 0:03:40.360 and he compares this kind of mutual support system to 0:03:40.440 --> 0:03:44.040 what we traditionally see with like rural farming communities, you know, 0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:46.720 where people gather to help raise the neighbor's barn without 0:03:46.760 --> 0:03:49.680 expecting any sort of payment in return. Well, it's pretty 0:03:49.680 --> 0:03:51.600 interesting to think about it, and you know, it might 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:54.880 be strange to hear about cold places making people happy, 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:57.400 but the underlying premise actually lines up with a lot 0:03:57.400 --> 0:03:59.600 of what I've read recently on the subject. And what 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:02.840 from this is that, well, basically that a person's environment 0:04:02.840 --> 0:04:04.960 has a lot to do with how happy they feel. 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:08.160 There was this study this year that examined surveys completed 0:04:08.160 --> 0:04:10.320 by about I think it was about half a million 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:13.200 Canadian immigrants, and these are people that had moved to 0:04:13.280 --> 0:04:16.040 Canada from a hundred different countries over the course of 0:04:16.080 --> 0:04:19.360 the past forty years or so. Many of the immigrants 0:04:19.360 --> 0:04:21.919 home countries didn't rank anywhere near the top of the 0:04:21.920 --> 0:04:26.120 Happiness Report, but Canada did. Now routinely places in the 0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:29.200 top ten happiest countries, and actually this year it was 0:04:29.240 --> 0:04:32.359 the first country outside of Scandinavia to chart at all. 0:04:32.360 --> 0:04:35.120 It came in at number seven. That's crazy, but I'm 0:04:35.120 --> 0:04:38.240 guessing these folks were happier after moving to Canada. Yeah, 0:04:38.320 --> 0:04:41.520 that's right. And actually, just after a few years in Canada, 0:04:41.560 --> 0:04:44.640 immigrants from less happy countries started to adopt the higher 0:04:44.640 --> 0:04:47.600 happiness level of their new home. So even though things 0:04:47.680 --> 0:04:50.400 like income and family life it stayed more or less 0:04:50.480 --> 0:04:53.880 the same, these people were happier simply because of where 0:04:53.920 --> 0:04:56.760 they were. Okay, but there has to be more play 0:04:56.800 --> 0:04:59.760 here than just geography, right, they're probably specific characteristics of 0:04:59.839 --> 0:05:02.640 life in Canada that leads to greater happiness, like the 0:05:02.720 --> 0:05:07.239 way that uh, I don't know, Scandinavia's starkness helps foster community. Oh, definitely. 0:05:07.480 --> 0:05:10.520 In fact, the researchers behind the World Happiness Report believe 0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:13.640 that about seventy of human happiness is due to just 0:05:13.839 --> 0:05:18.479 six factors. So they point out quality, social relationships, strong 0:05:18.560 --> 0:05:23.679 economic growth, healthy life expectancy, generosity, trust, and the freedom 0:05:23.720 --> 0:05:26.719 to live the life that's right for you. Now, any 0:05:26.760 --> 0:05:29.240 country that delivers in even a few of these categories 0:05:29.320 --> 0:05:32.520 is likely to have a fairly happy citizen base. I 0:05:32.520 --> 0:05:35.200 mean that sounds right, though it still feels weird to 0:05:35.200 --> 0:05:38.240 be talking about happiness in terms of metrics and rankings. 0:05:38.279 --> 0:05:40.400 On one hand, it seems right that a country would 0:05:40.400 --> 0:05:42.800 be concerned with the happiness of its citizens, you know, 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:45.080 the pursuit of it is mentioned in the first sentence 0:05:45.080 --> 0:05:48.280 of our declaration of independence. But I can also understand 0:05:48.279 --> 0:05:51.080 the argument that happiness is too vague and even like 0:05:51.360 --> 0:05:54.000 fluffy a concept to be held up as this national goal. 0:05:54.400 --> 0:05:56.920 I mean, this is philosophical, but like, what do we 0:05:56.960 --> 0:06:00.000 even mean by happiness? Yeah, and it's it's a tough 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:02.840 question to answer. And happiness is is something we all 0:06:02.880 --> 0:06:05.960 have experience with, or at least hopefully we have experience 0:06:06.000 --> 0:06:08.679 with it. But it's much easier to talk about where 0:06:08.720 --> 0:06:11.040 it comes from than it is to narrow it down 0:06:11.080 --> 0:06:14.039 to a single definition. I was actually looking at this 0:06:14.120 --> 0:06:17.120 National Geographic cover story that recently came out, and they 0:06:17.120 --> 0:06:21.000 gave an overview of three countries that historically received high 0:06:21.080 --> 0:06:23.640 marks for happiness, and the author of the story Dan 0:06:23.680 --> 0:06:27.120 butN Or. He proposed that real lasting joy actually comes 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:31.280 from the interplay of three distinct kinds of happiness. There's pleasure, pride, 0:06:31.400 --> 0:06:34.680 and purpose. Huh. So, uh, how do you come up 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:38.120 with those three? Well? I think partly because most measures 0:06:38.160 --> 0:06:41.400 of happiness can be broken down into those three categories. 0:06:41.400 --> 0:06:43.839 So going back to the six factors used for the 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:47.520 World Happiness Report, you know, take social relationships. They can 0:06:47.560 --> 0:06:50.919 bring you pleasure, or generosity toward others can provide a 0:06:50.920 --> 0:06:53.960 sense of purpose, or maybe the freedom to live how 0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:57.920 you want can become you know, like a source of pride. Well, 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:00.599 you know, those three types of happiness actually line up 0:07:00.600 --> 0:07:03.000 pretty well with three types of happiness that scientists have 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:05.360 been trying to get a handle on for years. So 0:07:05.600 --> 0:07:09.359 I looked this up, and uh, there's something called experienced happiness, 0:07:09.480 --> 0:07:11.400 and that's the term for the pleasure that comes from 0:07:11.440 --> 0:07:14.320 everyday life. Is usually measured by how much a person 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:17.280 has smiled or laughed during a day, and then pride 0:07:17.320 --> 0:07:20.640 that kind of corresponds with evaluative happiness. You know, you 0:07:20.840 --> 0:07:24.320 can think of this as like life satisfaction, basically how 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:27.760 happy you are with your career or family, social status, 0:07:27.800 --> 0:07:30.320 that type of thing. So researchers are often trying to 0:07:30.360 --> 0:07:32.280 assess this by asking you to rank your lives on 0:07:32.280 --> 0:07:35.360 a scale from zero to ten. So questions like, all 0:07:35.400 --> 0:07:37.880 things considered, how satisfied are you with your life as 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:41.240 a whole nowadays? And you know, this does feel like 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:44.280 a very clinical approach to happiness, but I guess that's 0:07:44.320 --> 0:07:46.800 what happens when you know you've got scientists and economists 0:07:46.840 --> 0:07:48.800 that are thinking about the subject rather than say, like 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:52.200 philosophers for example. Yeah, so it's funny you should mention 0:07:52.240 --> 0:07:55.520 philosophers because the concept of happiness that springs from purpose 0:07:55.920 --> 0:07:59.840 actually originated with Aristotle. He rejected what he viewed as 0:08:00.000 --> 0:08:03.760 alder happiness. That's the kind that yields short term enjoyment, 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:07.920 but you know, it doesn't deliver, it's it's kind of fleeting. Instead, 0:08:07.960 --> 0:08:10.360 he believed that those who wish to lead these virtuous 0:08:10.400 --> 0:08:12.760 lives just stry for a type of happiness you find 0:08:12.760 --> 0:08:16.440 through lifelong learning and maybe helping others. Yeah, I mean 0:08:16.560 --> 0:08:18.280 it makes a lot of sense. And then that GEO 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:20.480 article I was talking about earlier, they chose Denmark to 0:08:20.480 --> 0:08:23.800 exemplify purpose driven happiness, and part of the reason why 0:08:23.920 --> 0:08:26.760 is that over nine of Danish citizens are members of 0:08:26.800 --> 0:08:30.200 some kind of social club or association, and more than 0:08:30.240 --> 0:08:33.920 forty of them volunteer for civic groups. That kind of 0:08:33.920 --> 0:08:37.000 fulfillment from social engagement and giving back to one's community. 0:08:37.240 --> 0:08:40.040 It seems like the kind of happiness that Aristotle was 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:42.640 after that you were talking about before. Definitely, and it's 0:08:42.679 --> 0:08:45.520 really cool that Dan Butner touched on that because most 0:08:45.559 --> 0:08:48.040 of us take a more hedonistic approach to happiness, you know, 0:08:48.080 --> 0:08:50.960 we want to maximize our pleasure and minimize our pain. 0:08:51.400 --> 0:08:54.280 I wouldn't take his heart aligne against that approach, is Aristotle. 0:08:54.360 --> 0:08:56.800 I do think he's right that there's this deeper kind 0:08:56.800 --> 0:08:59.439 of happiness that comes from I don't know, finding meaning 0:08:59.440 --> 0:09:01.040 and what you do with your time rather than just 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:03.800 how comfortable you are. Right. But but to be fair, 0:09:03.840 --> 0:09:06.440 I mean, this kind of happiness can feel like somewhat 0:09:06.440 --> 0:09:08.839 of a luxury at times, you know, learning new things 0:09:09.040 --> 0:09:11.760 or helping others in need. That it often happens only 0:09:11.800 --> 0:09:15.240 after our basic needs are provided for. And and that's 0:09:15.280 --> 0:09:18.320 partly why purpose driven happiness seems to thrive in most 0:09:18.320 --> 0:09:21.280 of these Scandinavian countries when they have a ton of 0:09:21.320 --> 0:09:24.640 government programs that make sure no citizen goes without food 0:09:24.800 --> 0:09:28.120 and housing and healthcare. Let me just actually listen to 0:09:28.160 --> 0:09:32.959 how Butner describes the societal expectations of Danish citizens. Quote, 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:36.559 Danes grew up believing they have the right to healthcare, education, 0:09:36.679 --> 0:09:41.000 and a financial safety net. University students draw government stipend 0:09:41.080 --> 0:09:43.960 in addition to free tuition. New parents can take a 0:09:44.000 --> 0:09:47.000 year long government paid parental lead, you know, nearly at 0:09:47.000 --> 0:09:50.480 a full salary. This includes gay and lesbian parents as well. 0:09:50.880 --> 0:09:53.839 People work hard in Denmark, but on average less than 0:09:53.880 --> 0:09:56.760 forty hours a week, with at least five weeks of 0:09:56.840 --> 0:09:59.840 vacation per year. I mean, you hear all that in 0:09:59.840 --> 0:10:01.880 your realize how they have so much time for social 0:10:03.800 --> 0:10:05.240 But it's also, like you think about it, it's like 0:10:05.240 --> 0:10:08.160 a level of government support that would make Bernie Sanders black. 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:11.600 Probably so, But you know, Northern Europe seems to have 0:10:11.640 --> 0:10:14.120 cracked the code on how to create this environment where 0:10:14.120 --> 0:10:17.439 people feel secure enough to you know, pursue their passions 0:10:17.480 --> 0:10:20.280 without having to constantly worry about how to make ends meet. 0:10:20.800 --> 0:10:23.160 And it's not just sweeping government programs. I mean that 0:10:23.200 --> 0:10:24.960 there's a more laid back approach to life that you 0:10:25.000 --> 0:10:28.199 can see reflected in little ways too. For instance, have 0:10:28.280 --> 0:10:29.800 you heard it, and this is something that I had 0:10:29.880 --> 0:10:32.280 not heard of before, But in Norway it's called the 0:10:32.400 --> 0:10:35.800 right to rome. No, what is it? It's this traditional 0:10:35.880 --> 0:10:39.239 right to explore nature that Norway has acknowledged for centuries, 0:10:39.480 --> 0:10:41.959 and so basically anyone is free to hike or camp 0:10:42.000 --> 0:10:44.720 in any part of the country that they want. What 0:10:44.840 --> 0:10:47.520 that sounds so crazy, I mean even if it's like 0:10:47.720 --> 0:10:50.560 privately owned land. Yeah, that's the whole point. I can't 0:10:50.559 --> 0:10:53.320 see this flying here. But it goes back to that 0:10:53.400 --> 0:10:56.800 strong sense of community in Scandinavian countries that we talked about. 0:10:57.080 --> 0:10:59.240 So even though someone owns a deed for a particular 0:10:59.240 --> 0:11:01.559 piece of land, it's still a part of the shared 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:04.480 country and that means that every citizen has a right 0:11:04.520 --> 0:11:07.480 to enjoy it at any time. And the old exceptions 0:11:07.480 --> 0:11:09.760 to this or for private land that's been cultivated, so 0:11:09.800 --> 0:11:12.640 things like parks and gardens or you know, maybe farm 0:11:12.720 --> 0:11:14.880 fields or something like that. That's pretty cool and it 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:16.160 reminds me of like when I was a kid and 0:11:16.160 --> 0:11:18.320 I just like we had a creek behind our yard 0:11:18.360 --> 0:11:20.800 and we just like follow it through other people's yards 0:11:20.800 --> 0:11:23.640 and stuff is awesome, But so is this like an 0:11:23.760 --> 0:11:26.520 unwritten law or I don't know, something kind of like 0:11:26.559 --> 0:11:29.600 common knowledge type thing. Well that's how it started out. 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:33.120 But actually Norway citizens feel so strongly about the importance 0:11:33.160 --> 0:11:36.960 of of just being outdoors and outdoor recreation they actually 0:11:36.960 --> 0:11:39.400 decided to make the right to roam a federal law 0:11:39.440 --> 0:11:45.160 back in n That's amazing, you know. I mean, it's 0:11:45.160 --> 0:11:48.319 not just purpose driven happiness that Scandinavians have mastered, so 0:11:48.480 --> 0:11:50.880 they also have a knack for like the simple pleasures 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:53.080 of life. And in fact, there's this term that you 0:11:53.080 --> 0:11:55.360 see on the internet used a lot now and it's 0:11:55.480 --> 0:11:58.920 used in Denmark in Norway, and I know I'm butchering 0:11:58.960 --> 0:12:02.640 the pronunciation. I think it's called hugo, but there isn't 0:12:02.640 --> 0:12:05.160 this like English equivalent for it. But you can kind 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:07.320 of think of it of this like general feeling of 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:11.640 comfort and kinship or maybe contentedness, like it's something that 0:12:11.679 --> 0:12:14.480 applies to anything from like a softly glowing candle to 0:12:14.520 --> 0:12:17.040 a couple of coffee with friends. And actually found this 0:12:17.040 --> 0:12:19.880 account from this Norwegian transplant to the United States who 0:12:19.920 --> 0:12:21.559 did his best to try to sum up the idea. 0:12:21.880 --> 0:12:24.200 And this is what he wrote. He wrote, it is 0:12:24.240 --> 0:12:28.560 basically a state of well being, coziness, and ambiance. It 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:31.280 is a feeling of atmosphere and in action. You can 0:12:31.360 --> 0:12:34.080 be a huge lig person, or you can describe a 0:12:34.200 --> 0:12:36.480 cabin as huge lig. Or it could be used as 0:12:36.480 --> 0:12:40.160 a verb. Let's huga ourselves with a meal, a visit, 0:12:40.320 --> 0:12:44.040 a book, et cetera. Huga hugo huge. Actually know what 0:12:44.160 --> 0:12:46.640 this reminds me of. It's kind of like how the 0:12:46.800 --> 0:12:49.400 Smurfs would always use the word smurf and this kind 0:12:49.400 --> 0:12:52.800 of replacement for everything, and so they'd be like, We're 0:12:52.800 --> 0:12:54.400 gonna smurf all the way up to the top of 0:12:54.440 --> 0:12:57.760 Smurf Mountain to day. Have you seen smurfs recently? I 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:01.280 have not, exactly skinny means they're basically the smurfs of 0:13:01.320 --> 0:13:04.800 our societies. Yet I get the point. I mean, you know, well, well, 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:08.280 as long as we're comparing cultures, we should yes, yeah, 0:13:08.640 --> 0:13:11.520 we should probably talk a little bit about the happiness 0:13:11.679 --> 0:13:14.640 of our country. You know, because free tuition and healthcare 0:13:14.720 --> 0:13:16.280 that that that's one thing when it's a country of 0:13:16.320 --> 0:13:18.840 about six million people. But the kind of happiness that 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:21.400 comes from things like that, it's trickier in a place 0:13:21.400 --> 0:13:24.960 with over three hundred million citizens. Absolutely, But before we 0:13:24.960 --> 0:13:37.439 dig into that, why don't we take a little break. 0:13:39.960 --> 0:13:42.080 You're listening to part time Genius and we're talking about 0:13:42.120 --> 0:13:44.880 the happiest places in the world. All right, mango. So 0:13:44.920 --> 0:13:47.280 it looks like the US can fourt on this year's 0:13:47.320 --> 0:13:50.240 World Happiness Report, which I mean, that's not too shabby 0:13:50.240 --> 0:13:52.360 given how many countries are ranked. But you know, with 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:55.440 our economic prosperity, you maybe think we could manage a 0:13:55.440 --> 0:13:58.360 little bit better than that. But we've already seen that 0:13:58.400 --> 0:14:01.560 it's the country's overall environment and their sense of community 0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:04.280 that actually determines the happiness of its citizens, and it 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:06.640 isn't really the economy. Was just going to say that 0:14:06.679 --> 0:14:09.120 money doesn't matter. After all, the countries that top the 0:14:09.120 --> 0:14:13.000 Happiness index all have these like healthy GDPs, and you 0:14:13.000 --> 0:14:15.079 know the nations at the bottom of the list don't. 0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:18.120 But money isn't everything, and for the U s it's 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:20.160 the social aspects that we really need to work on 0:14:20.200 --> 0:14:21.760 if we ever want to muscle our way to the 0:14:21.760 --> 0:14:23.960 top of the list. All right, well, that's fair enough, 0:14:24.000 --> 0:14:26.320 but but that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of happy 0:14:26.360 --> 0:14:29.520 places in the US already In fact, Gallup recently teamed 0:14:29.600 --> 0:14:32.200 up with nat Geo to find the twenty five happiest 0:14:32.240 --> 0:14:35.720 cities in America. So how they pull that off? Well, 0:14:35.840 --> 0:14:39.600 first they established a series of metrics that commonly indicate happiness. 0:14:39.800 --> 0:14:42.000 And then they pulled data from about a quarter million 0:14:42.000 --> 0:14:46.240 interviews conducted with adults in almost two hundred cities throughout 0:14:46.240 --> 0:14:48.400 the US, and and then they used it to see 0:14:48.400 --> 0:14:51.160 which cities ticked the most boxes on this list. So 0:14:51.240 --> 0:14:53.680 I am, of course super curious to know who the 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:56.040 winner was, But first tell me about these metrics. Like, 0:14:56.600 --> 0:14:59.440 I'm guessing it wasn't as simple as what was it pleasure, 0:14:59.480 --> 0:15:02.160 pride and purpose that we talked about earlier. Not quite. 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:05.280 I mean, the study actually considered over a dozen different factors, 0:15:05.320 --> 0:15:09.680 everything from civic engagement, vacation time, o b CD rates. 0:15:10.000 --> 0:15:14.160 Actually this one was interesting. Even dental check up. Well, 0:15:14.480 --> 0:15:16.720 nobody loves going to the dentist. So does that mean 0:15:16.760 --> 0:15:19.640 that the key to happiness is having bad teeth? No, MAGA, 0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:22.080 That was definitely not the studies take away. In fact, 0:15:22.080 --> 0:15:24.120 it was actually the opposite of that. And and and 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:26.880 there was a higher level of satisfaction in places where 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:30.280 people made frequent trips to their dentists. Alright, So where 0:15:30.320 --> 0:15:34.040 all these dentists loving Americans living really fixated on that? Well, 0:15:34.160 --> 0:15:37.800 eight of the cities are in California, and of course 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:41.080 Honolulu scores a spot on the list. But according to study, 0:15:41.160 --> 0:15:45.120 the single happiest place in America is actually Boulder, Colorado. 0:15:46.360 --> 0:15:49.600 I mean that doesn't actually surprise me. Anytime I hear 0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:52.200 about Boulder, it's usually something about how healthy the citizens 0:15:52.240 --> 0:15:55.080 are or how much they exercise. And I've heard that 0:15:55.160 --> 0:15:57.920 more people per capita walk or bike to work in 0:15:58.000 --> 0:16:00.760 Boulder than almost any other city in the US. US. Yeah, 0:16:00.840 --> 0:16:03.680 that's definitely true. Boulder has over three hundred miles of 0:16:03.720 --> 0:16:05.960 bike roots, and their bike to work grade is actually 0:16:06.000 --> 0:16:10.120 about seventeen times higher than the national average. And something 0:16:10.120 --> 0:16:12.400 as simple as that leads to all these other boosts 0:16:12.440 --> 0:16:16.280 and happiness from other things like cleaner air, fewer overweight citizens, 0:16:16.760 --> 0:16:19.720 you know, stronger connection to the outdoors, all of these 0:16:19.720 --> 0:16:22.880 other factors. All right, But obviously no place is perfect, 0:16:22.960 --> 0:16:25.280 and there's got to be something negative we can mention. 0:16:25.360 --> 0:16:27.400 So this doesn't seem like it's sponsored by the Boulder 0:16:27.400 --> 0:16:29.560 Tourism Board. Yeah, I don't know. We love to talk 0:16:29.600 --> 0:16:32.920 about lots of negative things here on part. But but 0:16:33.000 --> 0:16:35.600 there is the fact that about forty nine of the 0:16:35.640 --> 0:16:38.560 local survey for the study reported feeling stress on any 0:16:38.560 --> 0:16:41.160 given day, and that that's also higher than the national average. 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:43.640 So the happiest city in the country is also one 0:16:43.640 --> 0:16:46.880 of the most stressed out. Like, how does that even work? Well, 0:16:46.920 --> 0:16:49.160 it's it seems strange on the surface, but the impression 0:16:49.200 --> 0:16:51.120 I got was that the citizens are stressed because of 0:16:51.120 --> 0:16:53.800 how active and engaged they are, not only in their 0:16:53.840 --> 0:16:56.480 personal lives, but you know, in the wider community as well. 0:16:56.840 --> 0:16:59.160 So it's a good kind of stress. Yeah, it's a 0:16:59.160 --> 0:17:01.800 productive stress. And you may remember back from our longevity 0:17:01.840 --> 0:17:04.440 episode where we talked about this that those that are 0:17:05.280 --> 0:17:08.119 living the longest often do have some of these sources 0:17:08.119 --> 0:17:10.320 of stress because they are so involved in the world 0:17:10.359 --> 0:17:13.159 around them. So it's the kind that comes from working 0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:16.199 to achieve a goal or to produce something worthwhile. So 0:17:16.560 --> 0:17:19.520 it really does go back to that purpose driven happiness 0:17:19.520 --> 0:17:22.520 that we were talking about earlier. Yeah, So it seems 0:17:22.560 --> 0:17:24.760 like the more invested and connected you are to the 0:17:24.760 --> 0:17:27.880 place where you live, the happier you become. And that's 0:17:27.880 --> 0:17:30.320 true even when you have to continually strive to improve 0:17:30.320 --> 0:17:32.760 your surroundings because that's the kind of work we find 0:17:32.760 --> 0:17:35.399 most satisfying. It actually makes me think of the study 0:17:35.440 --> 0:17:39.119 from Surry University in the UK called Places that Make Us. 0:17:39.560 --> 0:17:41.240 So first of all, you know the idea of having 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:44.440 your own personal happy place, right, Yeah, like a physical 0:17:44.600 --> 0:17:47.000 or actually even a mental place if as long as 0:17:47.000 --> 0:17:49.879 it makes you feel calm or less anxious. So you know, 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:52.159 this might be a peaceful room in the house that 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:54.720 you've decorated, or or maybe just like a memory of 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:56.879 a great trip that you went on, sure, or in 0:17:57.160 --> 0:18:00.280 and out you visited in California, that's right. But the 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:03.440 researchers that sorry wanted to better understand attraction that people 0:18:03.440 --> 0:18:06.359 feel towards special places like that. So they round up 0:18:06.359 --> 0:18:09.199 twenty volunteers and have them look at familiar images of 0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:13.520 like houses and landscapes and objects that they'd identified as 0:18:13.600 --> 0:18:17.880 like personally meaningful, and they also conducted these um fm 0:18:18.040 --> 0:18:19.920 r I scans on their brains at the same time. 0:18:20.160 --> 0:18:23.359 And when they measured the volunteers brain activity, researchers found 0:18:23.359 --> 0:18:26.520 that the familiar places caused way more excitement in the 0:18:26.520 --> 0:18:29.240 part of the brain linked with these emotional responses than 0:18:29.480 --> 0:18:32.800 any of the objects did. Yeah. I mean specifically, these 0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:35.960 happy places evoked feelings of belonging and as well as 0:18:36.000 --> 0:18:39.640 like physical and emotional safety. And so do you think 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:42.560 that's like what's going on here with Boulder or what, yeah, 0:18:42.640 --> 0:18:44.480 or any of these happy places? Really? I mean, I 0:18:44.760 --> 0:18:47.040 think when a city or a country helps the citizens 0:18:47.080 --> 0:18:50.520 strike that balance between pleasure and pride and purpose, that 0:18:50.600 --> 0:18:52.760 whole place becomes a part of them, just like their 0:18:52.800 --> 0:18:55.159 favorite room at home, where the vacation spot they returned 0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:57.840 to every year. You might be on this something here 0:18:57.880 --> 0:19:00.040 because you know, the process you're describing as real a 0:19:00.520 --> 0:19:04.320 pretty organic one. You know, rather than constantly seeking out happiness, 0:19:04.880 --> 0:19:08.400 it comes about pretty naturally, just through these opportunities that 0:19:08.480 --> 0:19:10.919 our environment gives to us, which seems like the right 0:19:10.920 --> 0:19:12.640 way to go, right. I Mean, I've seen a few 0:19:12.680 --> 0:19:15.160 studies now that have actually shown the larger the focused 0:19:15.240 --> 0:19:18.159 person puts on happiness, the less successful they are and 0:19:18.240 --> 0:19:21.160 actually being happy, which is probably why people who buy, 0:19:21.280 --> 0:19:23.840 you know, all these self help books about happiness never 0:19:23.840 --> 0:19:26.760 seemed to stop at just one. Al Right, Well, what 0:19:26.800 --> 0:19:28.159 do you say we close out the show with a 0:19:28.160 --> 0:19:30.800 look at some of the places that make happiness look easy. 0:19:30.960 --> 0:19:35.000 You know, no statistics, no metrics, just plain old happy places. 0:19:35.280 --> 0:19:36.760 Yeah it sounds great, but why don't we take a 0:19:36.800 --> 0:19:49.119 quick break first? Okay, man goes. So, as we said 0:19:49.119 --> 0:19:52.480 earlier that GEO did a ranking of the happiest cities 0:19:52.560 --> 0:19:56.959 in America and Boulder, Colorado came in number one. And 0:19:57.040 --> 0:19:59.320 I'm happy to tell you that we've actually got the 0:19:59.359 --> 0:20:02.320 Mayor of Bold, Colorado on the line. Mayor Suzanne Jones, 0:20:02.400 --> 0:20:05.840 welcome to part time genius. Well, I'm happy to be here, 0:20:05.960 --> 0:20:11.160 and congratulations on being named happiest city in America. Some 0:20:11.240 --> 0:20:13.800 people are pleased and others are like, we're not that happy. 0:20:15.640 --> 0:20:18.040 So would you mind telling us why Boulder is such 0:20:18.040 --> 0:20:20.600 a happy place? Well, I think there's a couple of reasons. 0:20:20.920 --> 0:20:23.240 Starters is that we are blessed to live in a 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:27.200 really beautiful place, and we've really invested a lot over 0:20:27.240 --> 0:20:29.399 the years and protecting it. We were one of the 0:20:29.400 --> 0:20:32.840 first cities to create an open space tax, and so 0:20:32.880 --> 0:20:35.880