WHY ARE DANES HAPPY? (REVISITED). I posted earlier on research which claimed that Danes are happier than others because they have lower expectations. Dick Weisfelder commented on this post that the Swedes have a concept of having enough called “lagom” which suggests that you need not strive for excessive wealth. He also pointed out the advantages of the Scandinavian social model. This BBC article asks “What can the Danes teach us about happiness?” The answers in the comments are familiar: shorter work hours, the safety net, lower expectations. Additional suggestions are that lots of cycling makes people happy and that the beauty of the Danish women makes the men happy.
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Lower expectations about what? The article never really says. Their standard of living is as high as ours though their energy consuption per capita is half ours.
Perhaps it’s the high cost of living in Copenhagen. Now that the bridge-tunnel to Malmo is complete, Danes are buying back Sweden one apartment at a time and commuting daily.
Lower expectations about anything, I suppose. The argument goes that it is better to be surprised by joy.
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