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Self-reported happiness is only meaningful if the points on the scale mean the same thing across eras, which is all of unknowable, meaningless, and probably false.
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Perhaps, but I do think changes in the average response rate of a simple yes/no happiness question contains valuable information on trends
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I like that more than the standard 5-point scale.
I also like that response to economic claims that I just came up with.
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Yes, simply applying adjustments like that is very naive, to say the least.
Trying to quantify this stuff (as if settles arguments) is a fool's errand anyway.
I'm pretty comfortable saying that materially we are wealthier than ever in history, and that the poor of today have access to material things that the kings of the past could only dream of. But that at the same time, there are immaterial ways in which we are worse off than before. Self-reported happiness should be a QED for that last point regardless of what metrics of material wellbeing you're using.