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Re: [xmca] established fact: x per cent of people are happy



It intrigues me too. First thing is to recognize that if I had asked her at any other moment, I may have got nothing better than a mouthful of abuse, and if someone else had asked her, who knows. She has just finished reading "Afluenza" and was reflexively aware of the complexity of my question. But overall this is probably a "truthful" answer.

I think the answering of the question "Are you happy?" is a behavioral question which reflects momentary things and personality in numerous ways. Most people most of the time will answer that they are happy absent particular stresses at the time. I suspect Aristotle undertood happiness better than the writers of the US Constitution. The only thing here is to understand that the answer to the question only tells you how the person answered the question at that moment under those conditions, and little else. It is certainly not an "objective" measure of the "fact"! :)

Andy

Ivan Rosero wrote:
Hello Andy, this intrigues me


is in almost constant pain. I just asked her if she's happy.
Answer "yes." I don't deny that that tells me something. And
I was pleased to hear it, too. Answers to researchers'
questions are objective data. But it is nonsense to think
that these words reflect observations of a person's own
state of consciousness.


What does her "yes" answer tell you about?

Ivan
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Andy Blunden http://www.erythrospress.com/
Classics in Activity Theory: Hegel, Leontyev, Meshcheryakov, Ilyenkov $20 ea

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