Surviving or Thriving - A study proves our way of life....

[Diomedes Industries]

In a study (Diener and Seligman, 2004) that compared Subjective Self Worth amongst certain groups of people - there were a few stand outs.

On a scale of 1-7 (7 being the happiest) - here are some rankings I want to show you:

The Forbes 300 richest American's = 5.8

Bill Gates - wealthiest man in America - worth - 58 Billion.

Pennsylvania Amish = 5.8

Pennsylvania Amish - tough to gauge worth - but they own no 'modern technology'.

African Masai = 5.7

Masai Warrior - tough to gauge his worth - but his people are hunter gatherer warrior society that is semi-nomadic.

Inughuit - the northern most people of Greenland = 5.8

Inyghuit - northern most hunters live often in 24 hours of darkness and live off the animals that indigenous.

Average American = 5.0

Average American income per capita is the highest in the world - Household income hovering around 50,000 dollars per year.


I think we may be on to something. There is something the indigenous people know about surviving that also equals thriving personally.

TF

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Ask the wrong question, get the wrong answer. In a psychological assessment, the significant factor is not material, it is cultural. Is the average Masai or Inuit or Amish comfortably integrated into his society? Is the average modern American?

It is more likely that a person living in a society limited in the expression of its values and sure of them will be satisfied, than someone living in a society with constant input and pressure from alien cultural norms confusing him about his position.

 

[darthstrevel]

Very insightful response, Esav Benyamin. I wouldn't spned a lot of time worring about the "subjective self worth" of the "average American" ... I would make sure that I am doing the right actions to ensure I was true to my own beliefs & self-actualization. Granted many of us walk amongst the "average American" types everyday in society, jobs, social settings etc ... so our interactions with others affect us. But I try to focus on my own goals and aspirations and not worry about the general happiness of others - I don't infringe on their liberties and guard my own.


There are many, many urban peoples of the world who would think it ridiculous to "woods bum," hunt, hike or canoe through a wilderness area or simply enjoy the majesty of the natural world that many of us here enjoy. They can live in their cities or urban cultures and think I am an ignorant throwback because I enjoy the outdoors. I enjoy it and pass it on to my children.

There are also folks who would never be happy under any circumstances ...

 

[willseeyalater]

This was a discussion a friend and I were having not long ago. He pointed out that the people of Denmark were studied in this or a similar observation and they ranked high on being satisfied with their lives. I think it comes down to having your expectations in life integrated with your means to provide for your family. If people live in a group or tribal culture then they expect life to remain more or less as it has been for their group since times past forgotten. Here in the west our blended culture includes an expectation to do better than our parents since two or three generations have done so in recent history. If people live with a short view of history and think that generational lift is the norm then at some point they have to face how much work that is to maintain and like we have learned in the last 4-5 years things beyond our immediate control can bring that to a halt or reverse the trend. The real problem is that to many were financing their generational advancement(material accumulation) on credit; a setup for eventual collapse. Time to deal with reality. If some of us could sit down for an afternoon with our greatgrandparents they might have some nuggets to share with us on how to thrive in lean times. Of course some of those folks didn't thrive so much even then if you study it objectively.

 

[Esav Benyamin]

Keep in mind that the actual people living today in "indigenous' cultures often have a much more sophisticated view of what else goes on in the greater world than their grandparents did.

A college friend of mine grew up the very urban environment of Lagos, Nigeria. Every summer, his father took the family to visit his father -- who lived in a wood hut in the bush. Sleep on the dirt floor, goats in the hut at night with them, predators roaring outside. Not just culture shock, Danny said -- fear!

Those Masai warriors put on a good show for the tourists, but many Masai are now businessmen, and only put on a sketchy semblance of traditional dress when they head back to the old home town for a visit. Inuit wear REI and hunt with rifles. Amish have been in the news for some very un-Amish shenanigans recently. How ya gonna keep them down on the farm once they seen Paree?

 

[willseeyalater]

Friends of mine worked in Burkina Faso for many years. They said that when they first were there rural villages were following the same patterns that had been established for thousands of years. Then suddenly everyone was getting satellite TV run from solar power and cell phones with solar chargers. That is happening all over the rural developing world with all the benefits and losses that come with it. Cities in these countries continue to explode with the shift from rural to urban as people look for opportunity. Grinding poverty is often the result as cities cannot absorb all those who migrate. Urban poverty comes without the resource of land and marginal or subsistence agriculture. Yes, the idyllic fantasy of the happy tribal person out in the bush is rapidly changing. Oh yeah, tropical disease does not disappear as cities grow, it just gets concentrated. Malaria and dengue have no vaccines developed, not enough profit in it like meds sold to developed countries.

 

[Diomedes Industries]

Will,

I think I was pointing out something along the lines of where you were going. Even with the caveat's that Esav brings up - I don't think you can compare the sophistication of the Inuit and Masai to the average American's sophistication.

I really am concerned more with the Epicurean implication here:

"Understand that true wealth is having what you really need for a happy life and you will find out how easy it is to be completely satisfied; mistakenly believe that wealth consists in possessing all that one could possibly imagine and dream up and there will never be an end to your toil and sweat’"


"I have never wished to cater to the crowd; for what I know they do not approve, and what they approve I do not know."


"A free life cannot acquire many possessions, because this is not easy to do without servility to mobs or monarchs."

This, I think, shows the lack of correlation between material wealth and happiness.

TF