Molly Young

I dressed and left my icy little hotel room, stopping at a chain store called Normal, completely normal goods at fixed low prices for a bag of the region's signature treat, salty licorice. Helsinki wore a hat of fog. You could see roughly 30 feet in the air before all was concealed behind a pearly scrim.

I dressed and left my icy little hotel room, stopping at a chain store called Normal, completely normal goods at fixed low prices for a bag of the region's signature treat, salty licorice. Helsinki wore a hat of fog. You could see roughly 30 feet in the air before all was concealed behind a pearly scrim.

After coffee with Tironen, I went for an evening walk to the harbor, where black slicks of water twinkled between frozen floes. The stands that sold salmon soup and hot dogs during the day were closed. It was frosty and sparse. Families walked together and ate in dimly lit restaurants. Helsinki's famous esplanade was empty.

After coffee with Tironen, I went for an evening walk to the harbor, where black slicks of water twinkled between frozen floes. The stands that sold salmon soup and hot dogs during the day were closed. It was frosty and sparse. Families walked together and ate in dimly lit restaurants. Helsinki's famous esplanade was empty.

In spring, the central walkway becomes a riot of flowering crabapples and bear shoulders, I had been told, but now the kiosks were shuttered, the trees skeletal, the paths plowed but untrodden. I stopped at a bar for a drink and felt worse after finishing it, as I knew I would, given alcohol's peerless capacity to italicize whatever mood the drinker is already in.

In spring, the central walkway becomes a riot of flowering crabapples and bear shoulders, I had been told, but now the kiosks were shuttered, the trees skeletal, the paths plowed but untrodden. I stopped at a bar for a drink and felt worse after finishing it, as I knew I would, given alcohol's peerless capacity to italicize whatever mood the drinker is already in.

On the way back to the hotel, I thought about something Tironen mentioned earlier. Outside his apartment, he said, there stood a hideous mound of dirty snow streaked in mud and gravel. He and his partner had joked about sending me a photograph of the mound as a pre-souvenir, a sardonic welcome to Finland. There are obvious problems with measuring happiness.

On the way back to the hotel, I thought about something Tironen mentioned earlier. Outside his apartment, he said, there stood a hideous mound of dirty snow streaked in mud and gravel. He and his partner had joked about sending me a photograph of the mound as a pre-souvenir, a sardonic welcome to Finland. There are obvious problems with measuring happiness.

Despite thousands of years of inquiry, nobody from Confucius to Aristotle to Jeremy Bentham to Richard Easterlin to Oprah Winfrey can agree on what happiness is. Is it a quantum of pleasure? The absence of pain? A perception of purpose, hope, community? How does it relate to health or wealth or income? Is happiness a mood? A neurotransmitter?

Despite thousands of years of inquiry, nobody from Confucius to Aristotle to Jeremy Bentham to Richard Easterlin to Oprah Winfrey can agree on what happiness is. Is it a quantum of pleasure? The absence of pain? A perception of purpose, hope, community? How does it relate to health or wealth or income? Is happiness a mood? A neurotransmitter?

The first World Happiness Report was a 170-page PDF with a chart that ranked countries by happiness. Denmark came in first, Finland second, Norway third. The United States was number 11. Since then, a new scorecard has been issued nearly every year. The rankings are based on a single question from which a huge amount, an insane amount, is extrapolated. The question is called the Cantril Ladder.

The first World Happiness Report was a 170-page PDF with a chart that ranked countries by happiness. Denmark came in first, Finland second, Norway third. The United States was number 11. Since then, a new scorecard has been issued nearly every year. The rankings are based on a single question from which a huge amount, an insane amount, is extrapolated. The question is called the Cantril Ladder.

Here it is. Please imagine a ladder, with steps numbered from 0 at the bottom to 10 at the top. The top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you, and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you. On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at this time?

Here it is. Please imagine a ladder, with steps numbered from 0 at the bottom to 10 at the top. The top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you, and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you. On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at this time?

If, like me, your instinct upon reading the above is to draw a ladder and number the rungs as suggested, you will end up with an 11-rung ladder, which is confusing. The originator of the Cantrell ladder, a psychologist named Dr. Hadley Cantrell, included a diagram of the ladder when he proposed the device in 1965.

If, like me, your instinct upon reading the above is to draw a ladder and number the rungs as suggested, you will end up with an 11-rung ladder, which is confusing. The originator of the Cantrell ladder, a psychologist named Dr. Hadley Cantrell, included a diagram of the ladder when he proposed the device in 1965.

The diagram clarifies that zero is not actually a step, but refers to the space beneath the lowest rung. Cantrell also indicates that interviewers ought to move a finger rapidly up and down the ladder while posing the question.

The diagram clarifies that zero is not actually a step, but refers to the space beneath the lowest rung. Cantrell also indicates that interviewers ought to move a finger rapidly up and down the ladder while posing the question.

Every year, representatives from Gallup contact approximately 1,000 people per country, either by phone or face-to-face, and ask them to identify their location on the ladder. The authors of the World Happiness Report then take those answers and combine them with the answers from the previous two years for a sample size of around 3,000 people.

Every year, representatives from Gallup contact approximately 1,000 people per country, either by phone or face-to-face, and ask them to identify their location on the ladder. The authors of the World Happiness Report then take those answers and combine them with the answers from the previous two years for a sample size of around 3,000 people.