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The five Nordic countries—Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Sweden, and Norway—have consistently ranked among the top ten happiest countries since the World Happiness Report began its annual ranking in 2013. In contrast, the United States ranked 23rd in 2024.
What lessons can we take from the world’s happiest nations?
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Airplanes are the safest way to travel in the United States. They are much safer than traveling by car or train. In fact, if you examine the transportation safety graph compiled by the U.S. Department of Transportation for the period from 2010 to 2021, you’ll notice that fatalities from air travel accidents are extremely rare compared to those from other modes of transportation.
Over the past twenty years, from 2000 to 2021, U.S.-based airlines and cargo operators experienced a total of 728 accidents. Among them, only 29, or less than 4%, were fatal, resulting in approximately 800 lives lost, with the majority occurring during the 9/11 terrorist attack. This is in stark contrast to the 28,000 deaths among occupants of motor vehicles involved in traffic crashes on America’s roads and highways in 2021 alone. Fatalities from air travel during the same year? Zero. Even when considering global statistics, the 176 deaths in 2021 due to air crashes worldwide pale in comparison to the number of fatalities from road travel in the United States.
Experts attribute aviation safety to several factors. These include advancements in engine technology and automation, the systematic reduction of human errors, personnel certification, and enhanced regulations that establish stringent standards for maintenance, reporting, training, and operations.
While aviation has a historically excellent safety record, this should not result in complacency regarding air travel. By boarding a plane, you are still gambling with your life since there is no guarantee of the safety of any individual flight. Nevertheless, your chances of being in a fatal flight accident in the U.S., Europe, and Australia are very low: 1 in 11 million. In comparison, the odds of dying in a motor vehicle crash in the U.S. in 2021 was 1 in 93. You are more likely to die from choking on food, drowning, falling, or suffering from a sunstroke than from being killed in a plane crash.■
Whenever a total solar eclipse becomes visible in the mainland United States, millions of solar eclipse enthusiasts travel by motor vehicle across the country to witness this astronomical spectacle. Research data from the 2017 total solar eclipse reveals that, despite the efforts of state and local police and transportation agencies to prepare the roadways, dedicated viewing facilities, and the public for the event, when an estimated 5 million eclipse chasers suddenly hit the road, traffic congestion becomes virtually inevitable.
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Long gone are the days when a typical workweek lasted six or seven days, and most people had to work upwards of 16 hours a day, 100 hours a week, just to put bread on their table. Since Roosevelt’s New Deal, the 40-hour workweek has been the norm for the vast majority of workers with full employment in the United States. Yet, in 2024, the country’s workforce of 167 million included nearly 8 million Americans who held more than one job in order to make ends meet and ensure adequate living conditions, with some working long hours not unlike their 19th-century predecessors.
Whatever their motivation for working, most Americans probably do not fully grasp the extent to which national and state labor laws shape their weekly routine. Specifically, for over 130 million full-time employees in the United States, the concept of the “week,” as a recurring series of workdays regularly interrupted by days when one does not need to go to work, is a direct consequence of government regulations on fair compensation for labor.
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The number 7 has mystified human imagination for centuries: seven sacred planets, seven heavens, seven seas, seven deadly sins, seven chakras, seven gods of fortune… So why not seven days in a week?
Almost all units of time are either linked to some physical phenomena or based on the fundamental unit, the second. Specifically, the year, month, and day are tied to the orbital or rotational periods of celestial bodies, while the minute and hour are defined in terms of the second, which itself is defined by atomic behavior. Unlike these units, the week is an anomaly as it lacks any direct correlation to astronomical or atomic rhythms. Rather, it is an artificial construct of the human imagination, resulting from the bizarre fusion of ancient astronomy, astrology, and mathematics.
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Name-calling in modern politics is a common tactic aimed at demonizing, devaluing, discrediting, or dismissing opponents. In 1937, the newsletter of the now-defunct Institute for Propaganda Analysis identified “name-calling” as one of seven propaganda devices designed to influence and distort public opinion.
Nowadays, name-calling is part of what political strategists refer to as “political branding.” To attack each other, politicians use catchy labels, ranging from relatively benign terms like “whiskey-drinking evil old man” and “blundering visionary” to more hurtful insults such as “commie,” “flip-flopper,” “pathological liar,” and “buffoon.” Whether mild or sharp, these labels are meant to undermine opponents’ views, integrity, intellect, or other personal traits. Donald Trump’s signature monikers like “Crooked Hillary,” “Crazy Bernie,” and “Sleepy Joe” are examples of personified versions of the latter.
Name-calling isn’t exclusive to politicians. It’s a common practice in other professional circles as well.
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“Stockholm syndrome” refers to a controversial psychological concept wherein hostages sympathize with their captors and become hopelessly attached to them. However, most people don’t fully understand its meaning and apply the term indiscriminately to describe practically any situation where the abused develop a bond with their abusers.
Fifty years after its inception, interest in Stockholm syndrome remains high. It is pervasive and ubiquitous. Anywhere you look, you will find the concept of Stockholm syndrome mentioned and often exploited for various purposes in one form or another.
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Drunk driving stands as one of the top three behavioral factors contributing to motor vehicle traffic fatalities in the United States, alongside speeding and failure to wear a seatbelt. Data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) shows that in 2021, drunk driving accounted for nearly one-third of traffic fatalities in the country, resulting in over 13,000 deaths. Surprisingly, this percentage has remained relatively constant nationwide since 2012, despite the implementation of severe penalties such as substantial fines, mandatory ignition lock installation, driver’s license suspension, vehicle confiscation, and imprisonment for offenders.
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About one in four Americans overestimate the amount of alcohol they can consume and still drive safely. This raises the crucial question: how much alcohol can one consume before exceeding the legal limit for safe driving?
In the United States, alcohol-impaired driving, also known as DUI, DWI, or drunk driving, refers to drinking alcohol and then operating a motor vehicle, such as a car, truck, motorcycle, golf cart, or even a lawn mower. It applies to any person operating or being in actual physical control of a motor vehicle while too intoxicated to do so safely.
While counting drinks is a common way to convey the importance of not driving under the influence, it’s not the most accurate measure of alcohol consumption in the context of driving.
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The renowned Norrmalmstorg robbery, an armed robbery and hostage crisis in Stockholm in 1973, brought the controversial psychological theory known as “Stockholm syndrome” to global attention. The unfolding event, where four hostages were held at gunpoint inside a bank’s vault for six days, was broadcast live on national television, getting an astonishing 73% of the Swedish viewers glued to their screens.
During that time, the Stockholm police headquarters were inundated with phone calls from concerned citizens from all over the country with suggestions for ending the bank drama. Some of the proposed solutions were quite extraordinary in their creativity. For instance:
The police, however, favored an old-fashioned tear gas tactic, which ended the standoff in about one hour with no casualties.■
What I Learned Today 