Uncovering the Fundamentals of Human Nature - The Gross National Happiness Index (GNH)

It seems that the political world is finally taking to the idea of GNH or' Gross National Happiness' - a quantitative index of psychological well-being put at the heart of policy-making. Since the concept was first created by the 4th King of Bhutan HM Jigme Singye Wangchuck to guide development in his nation, Canada, France and the UK have recently announced initiatives for an official Happiness Index to guide policy-making in their countries.

Many people know about the GNH, through the romanticized viewing-glass of scenic Bhutan, the Kingdom amidst the mountains and clouds, where its people sing and dance the songs of generations past, living a life of tranquility and harmony with nature. I make no qualms that I am very much such a 'rustic idealist' as well, whose lifelong dream is still to find myself by the little stream in the rural wilderness, eating my peanuts as time and breeze go by. However, if one's understanding of GNH were to stop at this idealized, and rather contentious picture, it would be a great injustice to the many social and psychological researchers who have put effort into the GNH, to turn a conceptual aspiration, into a quantitative index which can be used as a policy-making tool all around the world, for different communities, across the rural-urban spectrum.

It is through the immaculate understanding of human nature, woven into the very fundamentals of what it measures, how it is measured, and why it is measured, which differentiates the GNH from any other quantitative measure of 'development'. I can only share on a few key ones which resonated strongly when I first read them.

Sustainable Happiness. During the consumption of goods and services, the measure of what gives the people happiness will be relative, either to what others are consuming or to what one had the year before. This fact implies that there are negative externalities to happiness associated with consumption that needs to be curbed. As contrasted against such happiness achieved through external stimuli, there is a contrary tradition that point to a different source of happiness, showing that pleasurable feelings will be generated by shutting down sensory inputs and the related mental chatter. This involves secular meditation whereby the individual experiences the subject itself, as opposed to the subject perceiving external stimuli.Long enough meditation may lead the brain structure (neural pathways) to be changed such that calmness and contentment will be a personality trait. In other words, the mental faculties can be trained towards happiness. From a contemplative perspective, extreme reliance on externally derived pleasure distracts the individual from inner sources of happiness, elevating the latter.

Interdependent Happiness. In order to achieve collective happiness, the principle of interdependence needs to be taken on by everyone. Members of a GNH society would cultivate a third eye, which can elevate our vision beyond individual self-interest to address the happiness of all, as a collective goal. Happiness blossoms through enhanced relationships, arising unbidden when relationships improve. In this sense, the whole of development is a progress in relationships, not of individuals.

Sufficient Happiness. The Gross National Happiness Index takes the position that beyond a certain point, we dont need to keep adding in higher achievements to the quality of life mechanically; we confine our attention somewhat to a middle band of achievements that contribute significantly to human well-being for most people. Hence, having a much longer than sufficient education-span, does not compensate for a much lower than sufficient community vitality. Sufficiency across the key dimensions is the aggregate of GNH, rather than an absolute weighted average of the different dimensions.

These fundamentals guide the selection of indicators used to measure GNH across the nine dimensions of: Psychological Well-Being, Time Use, Community Vitality, Culture, Health, Education, Environmental Diversity, Living Standard, Governance.

I must admit that I have quoted in large sections directly from the GNH website in the identification of the fundamentals above, in my attempt to give a quick snapshot on the GNH. However, I recognize the potential incoherence of simply extracting bits out of the complete whole, and I would strongly urge anyone with any interest at all in the concept of GNH, or the understanding of happiness, to go directly to the website: www.grossnationalhappiness.com to discover more. It is very wordy and can be quite difficult to grasp at times, but it is well worth the effort to think through, even if you may have differing views.