By SI Filings
Jan
21
2020
"Though people have more money, better health care, better health, better housing and more education, and live longer than at any time in history, they — especially young people — are unhappier than at any time since data collection began." - National Review
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More intense vs more numerous?
I think there might be a flaw in the analysis. He looks at dramatically higher suicide rates and concludes young people in general are unhappier.
But what if a large majority are about the same as always and a minority of unhappy kids are more intensely unhappy than in the past? We would see the same kinds of numbers.
Quantitatively, we could have the same percentage of unhappy and happy kids, but with a qualitative decrease of happiness among those unhappy ones.
There are other possible ways to read the data as well, I'm sure.
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
Hard data
My take on Prager's numbers is that suicide numbers are a problematic indication of depression because so many suicides simply weren't mentioned as such prior to the last couple of decades; it was only mentioned, really, if it was way too obvious to hide. You see a lot of the same thing with cancer statistics and certain accidents.
But that noted, when a huge portion of the population is on SSRIs like Prozac, one would figure you could make the case that there's a lot of sadness simply on verifiable facts like that, or the divorce rate, or such.
The interesting thing with that is that, while you can point to a number of people who do seem to have real triggers for depression, or legitimate reasons to be depressed, sometimes you've got people where there is no clear proximate, let alone ultimate, cause.
Does faith and community help? Absolutely. No less than the Mayo Clinic agrees. I just think Prager's "it's worse than ever before" is going to be awfully hard to prove.
Aspiring to be a stick in the mud.
Possibilities
... or he could be right.
But yes, hard to prove.
Related: well, imagine this--people who feel less entitled and are able to be consciously grateful are happier! What a surprise!
Views expressed are always my own and not my employer's, my church's, my family's, my neighbors', or my pets'. The house plants have authorized me to speak for them, however, and they always agree with me.
Children and Church
Children and Church
“Children or teens who reported attending a religious service at least once per week scored higher on psychological well-being measurements and had lower risks of mental illness. Weekly attendance was associated with higher rates of volunteering, a sense of mission, forgiveness, and lower probabilities of drug use and early sexual initiation.”
-Psychoanalyst Erica Komisar referring to long-range Harvard study of 5,000. WORLD magazine, 12-28-2019.
David R. Brumbelow