Happy is too fragile and illusory a state. Content works much, much better and I find myself remarkably content considering the heights I reached and the bottom I barely pulled myself out of. I don't miss the bling at all and am very pleased with how little it takes to make me content.
On the content scale I'd call it a 7.5. Happy I no longer understand and am very wary of.
"happy" is not something constant so it is difficult for me to evaluate it as a whole.
For example, right now, as I am about to go to work, my happiness level is at around 4. But When weekend comes and I am doing my thing, then it can go up to 7.
As a student with the summer semester on the horizon, being able to pick new classes and things to learn about makes me happy and gives me something to look forward to... But its snowing out right now.
Isn't it clear that most of the ratings use higher number for "better" vote, and can't you assume happy equals better in this case? Were you really unsure about it?
i saw ratings all along the scale; that is still the case.
and i don't know, in advance, how "happy" people here are,
so even if there _was_ some skew, i couldn't interpret it.
and if i did, it might be "experimenter confirmation bias"
-- one of the most insidious and pernicious forms of bias.
and no, it's impossible to know which way the scale runs,
because it can run either way. (higher numbers are _not_
always "better", because "top" is often associated with
"the top of the charts", where lower numbers are "better".
and when i say "i look out for #1", you know what i mean.)
it's also unwise to assume that "happy" equals "better",
because this is self-report data, and do we really want
people to _report_ they are happy if they really are not?
depressed people tell us such pressure to "just be happy"
becomes an additional source of stress on the experience.
besides, even if _i_ think i know which way the scale runs,
the problem is that i don't have any idea how the people
who are _answering_ the survey believe that the scale runs.
all of this is straightforward to anyone who has studied
survey-research; it's totally obvious and noncontroversial,
certainly not the sort of thing that should be _down-voted_.
(yes, it was, indeed, believe it or not. so be it, folks.)
i also didn't post it with any "attitude", and i note that
the original poster accepted the note without much fuss...
On the content scale I'd call it a 7.5. Happy I no longer understand and am very wary of.