Entry nº 25: Review: Article “The science of Happiness”

Can happiness be measured? In the article “The science of Happiness” from a BBC report, American scientists claim they can actually measure happiness. But concidering that what makes some people happy would not necessary make other people happy, and that for many others real happiness is very difficult to reach; I do not think that such deep and intangible feeling could ever be measured.
The article explains that the measuring process is made by asking people how happy they are on a scale from 1-7 or 1-10. The measures are not perfect yet but they are thought to be as good as the measures economists use. The science suggests that happiness could have important properties such as long life, health, resilience and good performance. It also affirms that being richer isn’t making us happier. According to psychologists happiness is built by a set of vital elements: first, family, friends and also marriage; second, having meaning in life; and third, having long term goals. The article finally states that although there are many things that can produce lasting unhappiness, like the loss of a spouse of job, there is a way of lift our levels of happiness. We must use our knowledge of what makes us happy and work at it.
My general impression concidering all the information there stated is that there is a great contradiction in the article when it mensions the three vital elements that build up happines. They all have an spiritual base, and it is widelyknown that spiritual and emotional themes have nothing to do with science. That is why I believe that feelings cannot be measured with any scientific technique. But although my opinion is contrary to the main theme of the article, I agree with many other ideas presented. One of them is “there is a lot of evidence that being richer isn’t making us happier”. A proof of this is that in some countries many young people commit suicide because they achieve fortune and success so rapidly that they lose a reason to live. Another idea is “the wider and deeper the relationships with those around you the better”. This is closely related to the previous one because, though it is thruth that nowadays we need much more money than in the past to afford a decent lifestyle, material belongings can assure comfort but not happiness. Such emotional state is made up by deep and close relationships that cannot be bought in any store, the love and care of our family and friends are priceless and we can count on them no matter in what economic circumstances we are living. Finally, I also agree with the idea that we can lift our levels of happiness by working at what makes us happy. If we learn to be happy based on the three vital elements mentioned above, it would not be so hard to reach and work at.
In conclusion, the article is quite interesting to be read and it is up to the reader to decide whether you agree or not with the idea of measuring happiness. However, in my opinion happiness cannot be measured with a technique similar to that used by economists because it is not an economic variable. It is a feeling and feelings are very difficult to be defined and therefore impossible to be measured.