Measuring Wellbeing - we need more nuanced data
Especially in current times, it is worth asking by which measures we define wellbeing on a societal level. Mostly, wellbeing is measured by the age of death, medication, visits to the doctor, etc. What we often don’t pay attention to, as a society, is our wellbeing deep down, how we relate to the ultimate issues of life. Yet, I think, just like the age of death, answers to these questions can be conducted in a sound and scientific manner, providing data for political decision-making. Such questions might be:
- How many people feel they are following their dreams?
- How many people are tormented by the existential crisis, and how seriously?
- How many people feel like they are not true to themselves?
- How far do our actions differ from our moral reasoning?
- How many of us do things that are counter to our moral intuitions in our professional lives?
- How many of us feel a lack of meaning in life?
- How afraid are we of death, and how does this fear shape our lives?