We all want to be happy, don’t we? And we’re all wondering if we’ll ever find the happiness we so desperately seek. So did Nick Powdthavee from the University of Melbourne, Australia. But as a professor he needed to make this happiness measurable and quantifiable. So he did what professors do and created a formula. He calls it the “The Happiness Equation”.
By doing this he challenges our minds with a statistic and economic model in our search for happiness. For a lot of us, it is – at least partly – based on a certain amount of money and the fulfilment that comes with it. But what other factors have an influence on our happiness?
Nick believes that our happiness and wellbeing is connected to the economy and our place in it. Whether we have a satisfying job and salary or if we liked the career we picked. But, of course, it is also linked to a lot of other choices. The people we want to spend our lives with, who our friends are, who we are married to… are all important decisions in our search for happiness.
What Nick’s equation does is put a value on all these things so that we can objectively decide what will make us happier. Curious to find out more? Get your ticket for this year’s TEDxGhent >>
Written by Céline Delodder and Didier Van Coppenolle.