ThispaperwaspresentedfortheInternationalConferenceonGrossNationalHappinessonGNH,heldinParo,
Bhutanfrom4-6November2015
GNHPHILOSOPHYASSUBSETOFHAPPISMTHEORY
By:Dr.MukundM.Moharir
9668BabautaRoad
SanDiego,California92129USA
Email:[email protected]
Executive Summary: In this paper Weightage Factor (WF) Method to compute GNH
Index is introduced. This WF Method is particularly essential where the effects of
Paradigm Shifts and/or Prime Movers of Happiness influence the Wellness Domains
andtheirIndicators.Forexample:IncaseofscientificormodernsocietywherePrime
Movers of Happiness are Education and Standard of Living, WF Method will show
realisticvalueofGNHIndexwhichishigherthanthemethodswhichdonotaccountfor
theParadigmShiftsbyignoringWeightageFactors.
Thetopicoftheconferenceis“FromGNHPhilosophytoPraxisandPolicy”.Whenwetalk
aboutGNHPhilosophy,wehavetothinkinthreestepsasshowninTable1.
TABLE 1: 3-STEPS OF GNH
PHILOSOPHY
StepNo. StepTitle
1
IndividualHappiness
2
HappinessofSociety
3
HappinessofNation
Onemayarguethathappinessofanindividualisaddedorincludedinthehappiness
ofasocietyandhappinessofthesocietyisaddedorincludedinthehappinessofanation.
But to me this addition needs further modification. Consider two different batches of
apples.Eachbatchhasapplesofdifferentweights.Ifwecountthetotalnumberofapples
and multiply it by certain arbitrary weight of an apple then we come up with a wrong
numberoftotalweightoftheappleswepossess.Bythiscomparison,Iwishtosaythatwe
needsomemodificationinourcomputationofGNHnumber.
In fact, this 3-step philosophy itself needs further modification, since it may imply
that the happiness of a nation is a standalone entity. As we know, the world is getting
smallerandsmallerandwhathappensinrestoftheworldmayinfluencethehappinessofa
givennationunderstudy.However,therearecertainpocketsofnationsintheworldwhich
are not affected by the chaos going around in the surrounding world. Therefore, our
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ThispaperwaspresentedfortheInternationalConferenceonGrossNationalHappinessonGNH,heldinParo,
Bhutanfrom4-6November2015
calculationsofGNHnumbershouldaccountforthebothtypes:Nationwhosehappinessis
affected by the rest of the world and the nation whose happiness is independent of the
surroundingchaos.
ThisleadsustotheTheoryofHappismwhichaimsat“PermanentandSustainable
Happiness on Planet Earth.” When we hear this term “Permanent and Sustainable
HappinessonPlanetEarth”wemaythinkthatthisissomeabstractorUtopianTheory.But
it is not because it identifies the parameters or sources of happiness/unhappiness
postulatedinthe3-stepphilosophyofTable1,alsoitgivesustheSystemOrientedSolution
(SOS)foranynationalandinternationalproblemofanation,enhancingitsGNHnumber.
Thus,thistheoryofHappismdealswithGNHPhilosophyalongwithitspraxisandpolicy.
This Happism theory is developed from the philosophy of individual happiness to
the happiness of the society and then of the nation. This micro-approach development is
doneinastep-by-stepdiscourseonsomeofthesampletopicsgiveninTable2.
TABLE2:SAMPLEDISCOURSETOPICSOFHAPPISMTHEORY
Topic
TopicTitle
No.
1
CorrelationBetweenSuccessandHappiness
2
DatumLeveltoMeasureSuccessandHappiness
3
Wealth,WisdomandHappiness
4
Self-EnlightenmentandEternalBliss
5
HappinessandLineofSight
6
God'sPhilosophyBasedonRighteousLiteratureandReligiousMythology
7
IntensityandDurationofCircleofHappiness
8
SocialObligationstoward"Forgottens"and"Downtroddens"
HappinessandSpecificCaseStudies(OldCivilizations,"InclusiveandExclusive"
9
Happiness)
10
RoleofEnvironmentalistsinNationalHappiness
11
PocketsofHappinessinChaoticSurroundings
12
ThirtyPrinciplesforNationalHappinessandProblemSolving
13
ParadigmShiftinGNHWeightageFactors
All these philosophical topics of Happism Theory aim at identifying sources of
happiness or unhappiness of an individual and for a society. Also Happism suggests that
over all happiness of a society includes the variable amount of happiness contributed by
differentsources.Foragivenareaunderstudy,thetheoryidentifiesthe“PrimeMoversof
Happiness” (PMH) and emphasizes the importance of Paradigm Shifts in relative
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ThispaperwaspresentedfortheInternationalConferenceonGrossNationalHappinessonGNH,heldinParo,
Bhutanfrom4-6November2015
contributionsofvariousDomainsandtheirIndicatorsduringthecomputationoftheGNH
Indexofthearea.
These30principalsderivedduringthephilosophyofHappismTheory,envelopeor
account for the influence of politics, religion, environment, economics, scientific and
technologicalprogress,industry,socialproblems,etc.ThesefactorswillaffecttheGNHof
differentnationsindifferentwaysbasedonthePASIEclassificationofthenation.(PASIE
standsforPopulation,Area,ScientificandTechnicalprogress,IndustryandEnvironment.
IntheHappismTheoryworldnationsareclassifiedasPASIE1,PASIE2,etc).
This firmly establishes that different happiness or wellness factors will have
differentWeightagesbasedonthenatureofthesocietyorthenationingeneral.Different
methodsofGNHcomputationshavedifferentwellnessorhappinessfactorstobesurveyed.
Forexample,theonegivenbyMr.MedJonesofNationalInstituteofManagement(NIM)are
giveninTable3.
TABLE 3: SAMPLE GNH SURVEY
FACTORS
Number FactorName
1
EconomicsWellness
2
EnvironmentWellness
3
PhysicalWellness
4
MentalWellness
5
WorkplaceWellness
6
SocialWellness
7
PoliticalWellness
It is easy to conclude that these seven survey factors are covered in the
philosophical discussion of Happism Theory. Also, the latter indicates that these seven
factors are not independent variables as may be implied by some surveyors. Some of the
variablesaremoredependentontheothers.Suchdependentfactorsshouldbejustifiably
givenlessweightageinthefinalcomputationofGNHnumberofagivenarea.
Nowthequestioncomes:Howtoimplementinpracticethefundamentalprinciples
ofHappismTheory?Forthatpurposetheareaundersurveymaybeclassifiedas:Village,
townshipawayfrombigcity,suburbofbigcity,slumareaofbigcityandremainingbigcity.
EachareashouldhaveitsownWeightageFactor(WF)foreachsurveyorwellnessfactor.
ThisWFshouldbedecidedbythesurveyor,basedonthesourceofhappiness/unhappiness
withdueconsiderationstothefundamentalprinciplesofHappismTheory.Forthisreason,
thesurveyorshouldhaveathoroughknowledgeoftheareatobesurveyed.
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ThispaperwaspresentedfortheInternationalConferenceonGrossNationalHappinessonGNH,heldinParo,
Bhutanfrom4-6November2015
TheGNHcomputationsmethodswithoutWFandwithWFaregiveninTables4and
5respectivelywhileusingNIMDomainsorFactors.
TABLE4:CURRENTMETHODTOCOMPUTEGNH
Area
A1:
Survey Area
A2:
Number FactorName
Results
Results
1
EconomicsWellness 8.000
2.000
Environment
2
2.000
8.000
Wellness
3
PhysicalWellness
8.000
2.000
4
MentalWellness
6.000
2.000
5
WorkplaceWellness 6.000
2.000
6
SocialWellness
2.000
8.000
7
PoliticalWellness
8.000
1.000
Sum
-
40.000
25.000
Average -
5.714
3.571
Survey
TABLE
5: WEIGHTAGE
FACTOR
METHOD
TO COMPUTE
GNH
Area A1: Area A2: Area A1: Sur Res
Number FactorName
WF1
WF2
XWF1
Economics
1
0.1428
0.0100
1.1424
Wellness
Environment
2
0.1428
0.4000
0.2856
Wellness
3
PhysicalWellness 0.1428
0.0300
1.1424
4
MentalWellness
0.1428
0.0300
0.8568
Workplace
5
0.1428
0.0200
0.8568
Wellness
6
SocialWellness
0.1428
0.5000
0.2856
7
PoliticalWellness 0.1428
0.0100
1.1424
Sum
-
1.0000
1.0000
5.7140
Area
A2: Sur Res
XWF2
0.0200
3.2000
0.0400
0.0400
0.0400
4.0000
0.0100
7.3300
NOTE: If in a givencity/township
20% people
live in Area A1 and 80% live in
AreaA2thentheGNHofthatcity/townshipwillbe(5.714X0.2+7.330X0.8)=
7.0068
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ThispaperwaspresentedfortheInternationalConferenceonGrossNationalHappinessonGNH,heldinParo,
Bhutanfrom4-6November2015
NowletususethisWFMethodofGNHcomputationontheEXISTINGSURVEYDATA
OFBHUTANofREFERENCE2.BhutanreportedGNHis0.756onpage28.Thepercentage
contribution of page 30 is given in Table 6, column 3. Bhutan rural area is 0.6835 or
68.35%andtheurbanoneis0.3165or31.65%ascalculatedfrompages89and90.Ifwe
consider Education and Standard of Living Domains where Paradigm Shifts occur we
constructtheTable6forWFMethodtocomputeGNHofBhutan.Sinceweobservethatthe
percentage contributions of the nine domains are fairly uniform, we do not expect much
change in the GNH computation results with and without WF. However, Page 38 shows
somedifferenceineffectsonGNHofruralandurbanareasincaseofEducationandStd.of
Living Domains. These effects are also accounted for in Table 6 calculations. Their
summaryresultsaregiveninTable7.
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ThispaperwaspresentedfortheInternationalConferenceonGrossNationalHappinessonGNH,heldinParo,Bhutanfrom4-6November2015
ThispaperwaspresentedfortheInternationalConferenceonGrossNationalHappinessonGNH,heldinParo,
Bhutanfrom4-6November2015
TofurtherunderstandWFMethodofGNHIndexcomputation,Ihavedevisedasimpledata
inwhichtheParadigmShiftisprominentforEducationandStd.ofLivingdomainsascan
happeninscientificallyadvancedurbansociety.Forsimplicity,Iassumetheruraltourban
populationratiotobeone.ThepercentageGNHcontributionsare15.686forEducationand
Std.ofLivingand9.804fortheremainingdomains.ThisyieldsGNHcontributionvaluesof
0.08 for Education and Std. of Living and 0.05 for the remaining domains. The
computations of Table 8 (which are similar to that of Table 6 for Bhutan existing data of
Reference 2) yield the results which are summarized in Table 9 for WF and without WF
methods.
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ThispaperwaspresentedfortheInternationalConferenceonGrossNationalHappinessonGNH,heldinParo,Bhutanfrom4-6November2015
ThispaperwaspresentedfortheInternationalConferenceonGrossNationalHappinessonGNH,heldinParo,
Bhutanfrom4-6November2015
Finally,inTable10,IhavegiventhesamplecalculationsforanurbanareawherePMHare
Health,EducationandStandardofLivingDomains.TheyaregiventheWeightageFactorsof
4(four).TheresultingcalculationsofTable10showthatWFMethodGNH0.714isabout
20(twenty)percentgreaterthanw/oWFmethodGNHvalueof0.60.
These computations show that it is essential to identify the sources of
happiness/unhappiness,PrimeMoversofHappiness,alsotheParadigmShifts,ifany,and
accordinglybeassignedWeightageFactorsforeachDomaintoarriveattherealisticGNH
Index of the area. This will establish GNH Index as a universal measure of happiness in
everynationwithoutanyexception.
So far we have discussed the GNH philosophy derived from Happism Theory and its
implementationinGNHsurvey.NowletusseehowtoimprovetheGNHnumberofagiven
area. Manifesto of Happism Theory yields a System Oriented Solution (SOS) method to
solve any national and international problem of a nation. This will improve the national
GNH.DetailsofthisSOSmethodaregiveninReference1.TheformatofSOSmethodisas
follows:
A. ProblemDefinition:Thissectiongivesasummarynarrationofthehistoryandalso
thecurrentstatusoftheproblem.
B. SOSbasedonHappismConsiderations:Thissectionexplainshowtoapplytheseven
Happism Manifesto Considerations to solve the national or the international
problem under study. In some special, nonobvious cases, proper numbers of
HappismPrinciplesarecitedtosupporttherationalebehindtheproposedsolution.
The final SOS will include the contribution from each of the following seven
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ThispaperwaspresentedfortheInternationalConferenceonGrossNationalHappinessonGNH,heldinParo,
Bhutanfrom4-6November2015
considerations
of
the
Happism
Manifesto.
1.
Population
Consideration:
WF1
2.
Border
Consideration:
WF2
3.
Weapon
Consideration:
WF3
4.
Science
and
Technology
Research
Consideration:
WF4
5.
Production
Consideration:
WF5
6.
Religious
Consideration:
WF6
7.EnvironmentalConsideration:WF7
C. DiscussionofIdealSolutionandNonidealEventualities:
1. Nonideal Eventuality 1: Describe pros and cons of Nonideal solution.
2. Nonideal Eventuality 2: Describe pros and cons of Nonideal solution, etc.
This SOS method complies with the 30 principles derived from the 3-step
philosophy
of
Table
1.
During the discussion of Nonideal Eventualities, the cited principles will be
reevaluated for its applicability and reasoning. Any controversy leading to the
NonidealSolutionwillbeaddressedtothesatisfactionofthepartyobjectingtothe
IdealSolutiongeneratedinSectionB.Asmentionedearlier,sinceSOSisunbiased;
nooneshouldhaveanyobjectiontotheresult.Butincase,rationaldiscussionofthe
principleusedfortheobjectionablepartwillhelptodie-downthecontroversy.
In summary: This paper covers the comprehensive philosophy behind GNH, WF
methodtocomputeGNHIndexandSOSmethodtoimproveGNHofanation.
REFERENCE 1: Dr. M. M. Moharir, Tate Publication, Success, Happiness & Manifesto of
“Happism”,ISBN978-1-62854-895-2,15.09.01.
REFERENCE 2: Centre of Bhutan Studies, Publication “Provisional Findings of 2015 GNH
Survey”,November2015.KarmaUra,SabinaAlkire,TshokiZangmo,KarmaWangdi.
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