Semen good for depression but polygamists end up firing blanks.

Political correctness can get in the way of science. Lazar Greenfield, president-elect of the American College of Surgeons (ACS), recently had to resign as editor of Surgery News and from his position in the ACS after being accused of sexism despite his reputation for supporting women in surgery. What caused this fall from grace? He [...]

Are you flourishing?

Happiness is over-rated according to Martin Seligman, the grandfather of positive psychology. This might be a bit of a shock as his book “Authentic Happiness” was influential in persuading influential people that the government should start measuring happiness and well-being. In his latest book “Flourish” he says he got it wrong promoting happiness as it was [...]

Where would you have a better life?

If you want to know which country to live in to enjoy life more go to the OECD better life index. They  have identified 11 key factors such as health, education, earnings, and sense of community. You can decide how important these are to you. After I’d scored my choices and pushed the buttons it [...]

South Africa’s World Cup anniversary

Last June I posted about the outcomes that might be expected for South Africa or any country that hosted a large international competition like the World Cup or the Olympics. The evidence from economists was that people would be happier – but only for about a year after the event and psychiatrists were concerned that there [...]

On-line bullying persists

The internet and mobile technology generally has been a boon to bullies. As well as Facebook, sites such as Little Gossip – recently shut down because of pressure from schools – provide anonymity to cyber-bullies who can make life hell for their victims. And now there is another such site, Formspring. The comments that are [...]

France miserable? c’est la vie

Sacrebleu! France is the most miserable country in the world. According to the Global Barometer of Hope and Despair for 2011 life is looking grim for many Europeans but the French are the most pessimistic. Iceland was the second most pessimistic followed by Romania, Serbia and the UK in joint third place (some people say [...]

Those you have read – top 10 in 2010

When you first sit down to write a blog you hope people are going to want to read it – unless you plan it as a private journal where you can unburden yourself or have a rant at the world (OK so occasionally I have a rant too). So it’s great for me that so [...]

Dave – I’d be happy with £50k!

David  Cameron says a government’s actions could make people “feel better as well as worse” and it was “high time” to recognise that GDP was an “incomplete way” of measuring the country’s progress. He confirmed that the government was asking the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to devise ways of measuring wellbeing in addition to tracking [...]

1 new partner = 2 fewer friends

Get a date but lose a mate? Well two actually according to Robin Dunbar’s research. He’s a social anthropologist at Oxford and I’ve quoted him before back in May in my post “So many friends but still lonely”. He argues that when you start dating or get married you lose 2 of your friends because you [...]

Danes are the most satisfied people – how about you?

Although Finland won 1st place in “best country in the world” category their Nordic neighbours Denmark did come 1st in Wikipedia’s 2006  “satisfaction with life” study which asked people how satisfied they were. Finland ranked 6th, just ahead of Sweden, and Switzerland came second in both surveys. The USA came 23rd and we came a measly 41st, behind Germany [...]