3rd Writing
Watch this video about the Happiness Index.
Answer the questions:
- Is it possible to measure happiness?
- Are those happiness points truly important? Why or why not?
- Is it true what is said about happiness in the world?
- Why do you think Costa Rica is the happiest country in the planet?
Watch this second video about Investment in Costa Rica
Answer the questions:
- About the second video, are all of those facts true or just a result of marketing?
- Do you agree with it? Why or why not?
- What other examples can you provide that show how good Costa Rica is?
INSTRUCTIONS TO WRITE YOUR THIRD BLOG
Answer all the questions as if you were writing the blog. DO NOT ANSWER THEM AS QUESTIONS. The questions are meant to help you talk about the videos, not to be answer as merely questions. Write a reflection paper on these two videos and think about this questions:
If all of this information shown in the two videos is true, how will you explain the documentary “Shark Water” and the article “The truth finally told…” that we analyzed in the previous blogs?
After writing the blog, you need to write two more comments about your classmates ideas. The comments will follow the same format as your first post.
FORMAT
- In order to show your opinion, write three or more supporting ideas and/or examples
- Explain your ideas and give examples or facts.
- Do not use offensive vocabulary or it will be immediately removed from the blog. No points will be given.
- Use two “quotes” from either video that you agree or disagree with and mention why.
- Use 1 idiom at least.
- Use the first and second conditional.
- Use vocabulary about history.
- Use reported speech.
- No points will be given for late work.
- Check your spelling and punctuation.
- Organize your ideas into paragraphs
DUE DATES:
- first post: June 6th
- 2 comments: June 13th
Happiness is a state of the mood which to me, usually seems pretty difficult to find. Anything, no matter how big or small is, can bring happiness to someone. People just have to learn where to look for; in a gift, in someone's smile, in a landscape... And trully, you will find it.
ResponderEliminarWe are priviledged people, living in this beautiful country which now it has been known around the world as "the happiest country on earth" and I was wondering how can they measure that? The guy from the video explained many things that had occured or had changed in Costa Rica to become happier. He was talking about the enviroment and our natural resources, the way we use them and participate in the good habit of recycling. And it is true that Costa Ricans are more involved in those activities but that has not been happening long ago. And there are still many people who don't give a penny over this land.
Happiness is being measured in those ways but what about the others? Sadly, we live in a country of corruption and I still watch on the news, children being abandoned by their parents and animals being killed in our "protected zones".
We are happy everytime we have a day off, to drink as much beer as we can and forget about our "problems" for a while. We're happy because we are careless. I'm not speaking generally but somehow, we are. We have never been taught to be disciplined and that's why we fail in pretty much everything. We are conformists and we applaud every failure that we have just because you can do it better next time. Notice sarcasm.
I was just talking in Costa Rica but what about the world? There are wars in the middle east and people being killed under a regimen. We live in a democratic country and we're lucky, but what about them? They are not like us, they are having worst problems to think of.
The second video shows also a positive point of Costa Rica. It can be marketing, to sell our country to powerful enterprises and/or people, but it is also true.
Now, don't get me wrong, cause I realized that I have said negative things of my country, I mean, I love Costa Rica but some of us may have different points of view of the reality we are living in.
However, this country got many talented and intelligent people, though, all of them are called to work abroad.
I think the second video is very good to be true. But despite all the things that I have said, I'm proud of being Costa Rican. Our life expectancy as the guy said in the first video, is very high, even higher than the one of the developed countries, we have beautiful landscapes and places to go, we work, we earn our money and we are happy by pretending we are the happiest country in the world! Isn't that ironic? We complain about everything but still, we're glad for being born here. As I just did.
To finish, I'm going to share a quote by Dalai Lama: "Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.”
Our own actions are the ones that make this country grow, and been admired for some people around the world for making happiness happen.
I think that this perception about happiness could real or unreal, indexes of development of the country are good compared to other nations of the world, but does not guarantee that the quality of life is good, happiness in many cases is a personal perception and not overall.
ResponderEliminarDevelopment and wealth of a country are associated with work and economic growth, is a very simple vision to think that happiness can be attributed to economic factors, happiness is associated with values of belonging to a nation or a group, the fact that some people think that we live in the happiest country in the world is associated with a collective unconscious in which we assume as certain some things we hear, I think if a thorough analysis is done easily we can realize that the perception of happiness is not real to a lot of people,
While it is true that compared with other Latin American countries primarily, our situation is not all bad, say that we are fully happy would be a fallacy, We have been fortunate to be born in this nation that has no army, which invests in safety, health and education resource much, obviously there are many things that must be changed to say that we are really happy, the speaker says with certainty that we are the happiest country in the world, it is probably that he said that because not live here and ignore several problems we have in our country.
Most of people usually associate happiness with material’s stuff, but is just the perspective of them and if it works for them so is ok.
EliminarBut we shouldn’t forget that even though Costa Rica is growing up, it still has so many conflicts and not everybody is living as they would like!
On one hand if we compare our nation with others from Latin America or even others from the Middle East we must feel blessed for living in a country with no wars, with no revolutions from certain groups and no terrorism.
But on the other hand happiness for me doesn’t depend on the place where you live; it has to bloom from your inner ‘cause it has to be something you want it not something you feel it.
-Measure happiness is difficult and subjective but according to researchers happiness can be measured with a simple surveys or systematic analysis, so I can say the happiness can be measured, about the second question my answer is that, i disagree with the points that the guy said because by the simple reason of not have army either or because we have greater longevity of people that other countries, it’s no means that we should be happy, it is synonymous of being conformists. The person that thinks that for those reasons is happy is a deceived and this is a lack of respect for us. About the happiness in the world, it is something that can't say certainty clearly; it is difficult, because there are different forms of happiness.
ResponderEliminar-We are the happiest country in the world?
In Costa Rica, depression is already the main cause of disability. In 2012, the Costa Rican Social Security made over ¢ 3,000 million depressions. All health spending, Costa Rica invests 3% to mental care, 67% of it is going to psychiatric hospitals; a balance that could turn off smiles, in agreement with this article I didn't see many happy people living in our country.
First, what is measured in indices of happiness is called the level of well-being. And in general, I dare say that Costa Ricans are people how build our happiness on intense personal enjoyment of simple pleasures: watch the game of saprissa, taken the coffee in the office, family parties and tables of drinks with friends on paydays. And therefore when asked to the Tico, they replied that he is happy, not means I'm satisfied with how things are going or to believe that there are no urgent problems, this ability is simply our idiosyncrasy of be Tico.
Second ,Most of the Ticos know how to make the difference between the collective and the personal, it is something that has been happening, this allow us living in a permanent state of anxiety resulting from their own pessimism towards life.
Finally, Probably the most controversial. There are people who are unhappy with the happiness of others. "How," these people will ask, "others may not see what I see?" "How is it that people do not want to be thrown in the street like me, I'm dying to do it, but I do not want to do it alone (and these data, should mean something that is apparently ignored by these people)?Why the majority of Costa Ricans feel happy if everything is wrong, if we are governed by a gang of corrupt acts just for personal benefit , if is there any hope for this country that inevitably will go to the bottom half of the table of human development.
About the second video, I consider is a little bit exaggerated but after all, I took this video like an interview where the idea is to get a job; I'm trying to say that the normal in an interview is sell yourself with the purpose to be hired, I think that is the main idea in the context of this video, How can you sell one idea?? Is easier to answer saying you are the person perfect or indicated and of course the only one for this job, not say you can lie or try to fool the interviewer, just you need to present an attractive idea that finally could be accepted. This video is the same case besides, the video seems very clever and very creative; pretty good the script, where is seeking foreign investment. I do not see anything wrong after all is not a secret that in our country there are good and bad things however, is the same in other countries, also the important here is to get dollars and create new employment opportunities ,that could support our families financially, anyway it is a promotional video, the main purpose is sell one idea just is an initiative to come and invest here, where our country offers ensure to that people outside that can bring the companies and provide jobs at me or you.
I agree with Richard but it is good to clarify that the fact that Costa Rica has again been ranked as the happiest country in the world is very important and is an indicator that things have done well. According to the Nation Newspaper This report measures three things: the welfare of the inhabitants say they have, life expectancy at birth and the ecological footprint. Costa Ricans gives a rating of 7.3 to life, life expectancy at birth is 79.3 years and the ecological footprint is 2.5 g per capita. The ecological footprint measures the actions that are done for the environment compared to the use and abuse of natural resources and activities that harm the environment.
EliminarThe Happy Planet Index measures what really matters is have long and happy lives today and the potential for good lives in the future, many times We have adhered to models that only measured economic development
Yes Costa Rica is the happiest country in the world, but it is not paradise, Happiness is a decision. A person can live in Costa Rica, a country that gives all people to be happy, and yet, not. However, another person may live in a country that does not give you tools for your happiness and be very happy.
As Susan wrote happines is a state of mood, and you can't measure it, may be in the way that you do a statistic, but I think is difficult to say how many people have happiness in their lifes. For example you are not happy all your life since you have difficults moments in your life, but in the other hand there are people that have a sad life for some reason but they enjoy little moments per day, week or month, and that moments help them to live. Because of that happiness can be temporary or a style of living and that makes hard to measure it.
ResponderEliminarHe said some happiness points "Connect, be active, take notice, keep learning, give" and there are definitely important for living well or happy almost every day. Some people disagree, but for me not all are very important, the ones that important for me are to connect with our relatives or a nuclear family, and with our friends; to keep learning easy or hard things, for example in my case learn new things about math, physics or something related to them makes me happy; and the last one but not less important to give, that action makes you feel satisfied, realized, happy; I wrote that because I have felt like that when I help somebody or give money to somebody that need it.
The guy said we are the happiest country around the world, I agree with him because almost everybody enjoy their lifes. I have seen people on the streets that are happy living there and the only "thing" that makes them happy is the company of a dog or a animal; also there are people that are happy sitting in a park and forget all the problems that they have, they just breathe and see how people walk, talk or something. But there are people that just live their lifes, because they have tough lifes and they have a happy mask on their face and it is that mask that everyone sees. I think everybody had to wear a happy mask in some moments.
About the second video, I think all those facts are result of marketing since we have one of the most contaminated city, also the education is not that good as they said, because some schools and high schools don't have enough teachers, and the level is too bad, that happens in rural areas. Also we are not a technological country, just because Frankling Chang is building that space craft, that is not a reason. One thing that is not a result of marketing is the green protect areas, that is one thing that I am proud for living here. We are talented and educated, or almost everybody. The bad part is that the education system doesn't support those talents in arts, music etc.
She said "Let's build together the future of the happiest country of the world" I think that is marketing because we don't have more companies in our country and less green zones to be happy.
The videos that we analyzed weeks before are a result of bad experiences of people that came here, but also explain the problems that we have and as a result of the economical and political system here. Every country has problems as we have. We are not perfect. But there are people that work on them to make a Costa Rica a better country.
I am proud to be a Costa Rican even we aren't the perfect country to live, but we have some characteristics that make the way we live better, for example the mountains, beaches, people etc.
Finally if I have a possibility to live in another country I won't think twice to start here for its nature and people. And it is important to enjoy those little things and those experiences that life give us everyday, we don't have to complain about everything, just live our lifes, appreciate the nature, those moments with your family and friends, play with a animal, give that extra that you don't need to needy people, every day is an experience. We just have to live each day one by one and don't be worried about the next day.
I share his view, but keep in mind that we put our feet on the ground and assess the situation of our country, the imbalance in terms of equity and social inclusion, persistent poverty and a deterioration in living conditions for the majority of the population, poverty, high cost of living, insecurity, corruption, poor public services, failure of the education system, are factors that hinder the development and welfare, so some people dont believe that Costa Rica was declared twice by the Happy Planet Index as the happiest country in the world.
EliminarThe existence of poverty, the slow movement of social indicators, income and employment, are part of the problems that dragged the country for some time. Some people are already warning about the problems of governance in the country, I think we should not stay just with this title, we must make a reality the happiest country in the world, I think that we must work, because it seems that Costa Rican are far from believing this as a reality
It is really interesting for me when I ask to a person, how do you feel? How’s everything going? And most of the time they said “Well, I had had problems, but I really know I’d be ok!” or as in some other occasion you just hear people complaining… that’s life.
ResponderEliminarSo when people, maybe those who suffer depression or some other illness, start to understand and enjoy all the little things that are all around them, they’ll realize that there are like a thousand good things against a hundred bad ones and, they’ll notice that life is an opportunity (just one) to decide how they want to live it!? And then is when the word happiness shows up. So for me, there’s not a formula to measure it!! There’s no way to know if “the grass is greener on the other side of the fence”, because only you know how happy you want to be, happiness is a decision not a feeling.
When people are happy, they shine, they really do! Because happiness is not a synonym of careless, is completely opposite to it. It makes life easier, it makes you being confidence, and it gives you energy. But as I said it before, I have no idea how can people, if there’s somebody able to tell you, that you’re half happy… I mean sounds ridiculous…
Now, talking about Costa Rica, Are Costa Ricans the happiest people on Earth? I don’t know… But I know for sure that there are some facts that can probably say if people live whether or not happy (money, succeed, job, children, marriage and so on), because is just a manner to see it for them.
For me is enough when I look around and I can find peace, tranquility, when I go out and I feel secure, breathing fresh air, but If I didn’t have a family, I wouldn’t be happy.
I wish I agreed with everything that have been said in the video, but I think most of it was said as a result of the marketing, you don’t want your product be seen wrong. But I do agree when is talking about of all the beautiful resources that this magnificent land has, But when you think about the illegal hunting just an example, you’ll realize that errors have been made by people with any sense but greed.
Happiness is an option, what’s not are all conditions under which you were born. But if I prepare myself, I will reach all what I want, that’s an extra point!
Costa Rica is plenty of good people, always smiling, having fun but at the same time they accomplish their goals in life, we must care all of what this beautiful country in the central of the Americas has for sharing with others, because if we really protect our resources, we will life better and children will have a better future!!
I would like to finish by posting this quote that I found about happiness:
“Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence” said Aristotle.
Happiness is an inside job and you must share it with others by wearing that pretty smile on you!
Good news of Costa Rica.
ResponderEliminarI have my doubts about "the happiest country in the world."
If they call us the happier country, we will believe that we don't have any problems and we will have the attitude that "everything is funny and a joke." (wait, that already happened.)
I'm of the opinion that there are ways to be happy and for each person are very different, I think we can't generalize or measure what feelings or moods are.
The first video focused more in the life expectancy and natural resource, everything was very nice, the opinions and the statistics of how good is our country, I'm glad that. I guess there are persons that the comfort and tranquility gives them "happiness," but the video don't mention the bad things of Costa Rica, corruption, poverty, bad roads, Costa Rica is an expensive country to live.
All those things are present here, I think people from others countries have to known the truth, we shouldn't try to hide it just with nice things, because they can feel disappointed like the guy from the article “The truth finally told…”
The second video was very nice but sounds very good for be true, the video didn't mention the bad things, like the first one.
Marketing was everywhere but for me nothing was fake it was convincing, our country has many advantages and it is beautiful.
I like to think that Costa Rica has potential to become first "Carbon Neutral" country but for that we need improve our country in other areas...
If we were happy, we wouldn't have problems and evidently we have it, we can make Costa Rica a great country depends on us change our attitude, be more efficient and stop being lazy!
To finish I want to share a quote of Jawaharlal Nehru,
"Happiness, after all, is an inner state of mind. It is little dependent on outside environment."
I completely agree with you, they just show one side of it, and neither I think that Costa Rica is the happiest country… though they show us the pretty and perfect life, we know for sure that’s not true at all, but I do think that people must live in a good mood, there’s nothing better to wake up with a big smile and just feel how good life is, but I’m not talking of material things, I guess this is more from our spiritual side.
EliminarPeople can say whatever they want, just like the guy from that “article”, we can see there, that people have different perceptions based on their own experiences.
I would like to see that Costa Rica developed all of that great potential that it has, and starts to do things right!!
But you’re right we mustn't be lazy any more, and give a 100 percent of our energy to make a big change!!
Gabriel good to know you share my opinion.
EliminarI think in the last years our country has grown, we know many important people visit Costa Rica every year, they see that is a beautiful country to relax, we have nice places and a great weather, people love that.
They see the potential that our country has, maybe that gives them a good mood and they feel happy visiting and invest in Costa Rica.
I really like the projects mentioned in the videos, is very interesting the way they want to use natural resources to development of the country but people prefers support other ideas that won't benefit us...Is easy, we have the tools but not the will to work...
(I include myself)