Gallup Finds "Happiest Man in America" in Hawaii

That's Alvin on the right. From the Daily Record.

Like Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster, a "happiest person" in any given country might seem like a mythical creature whose only evidence is some sham photographs or an odd sighting by unreliable sources. Well, according to this story from the Los Angeles Times, Gallup has apparently done the unthinkable (or maybe unnecessary?) and found the happiest man in America:  69-year-old Alvin Wong of Hawaii.

Gallup accomplished this by first assembling data on what traits and situations make people the happiest. They found that happy Americans tend to be one or more of the following things:  tall, Asian American, Jewish, 65 or older, married with children, living in Hawaii, and running their own business with a household income of more than $120,000 a year. So a theoretical "happiest person in America" would be all of these things put together, right?

Well, Gallup found that this collection of traits is not just theoretical, but that one real person in America actually meets all of them, and his name is Alvin Wong. Alvin is a Chinese-American convert to Judaism who is 5ft 10in tall, has children, owns his own business, and all the rest. The Daily Record reports that Alvin says his life philosophy is "if you can't laugh at yourself, life is going to be pretty terrible for you." He also says, of the study itself, "This is a practical joke, right?"

Who can blame him, really? Congrats, Alvin, on apparently winning at life! Your new title carries with it a lot of expectation, but you seem like the kind of guy who can take the pressure!

Happiness is Six Hours of Sleep, a Quick Commute, Two Hours Playtime...

Are you as organized as these cats? Then you might like to try
the Daily Record's happiness schedule. From Music Juice.

Today the Daily Record of Scotland reports on a very specific recipe for happiness. Apparently most happy people get six hours and 15 minutes of uninterrupted sleep per night, have a 20-minute commute to and from work, enjoy five cooked meals per week, and get home at 5:42 pm. The data comes from a survey of 4,000 adults.

Of course these results are correlational, so we don't know if this schedule makes people happier, or if happy people just happen to follow this schedule. To test causation, someone would need to ask volunteers to follow the schedule while testing happiness before and after.

You can read the article for the full list. It has 17 items on it and gets very specific. I don't know if it can be put into practice, but you're welcome to try if you want.