What Is Happiness? “I must learn to brook being happier than I deserve.” – JANE AUSTIN, PERSUASION In an age of anxiety and uncertainty, we’re all searching for ways to feel better. One in six Americans is on some kind of antidepressant. Even those who are doing relatively well have become aware that material success does not necessarily translate into a more durable sense of well-being. (For your good LIC/ GOI advise their retirees to follow their seniors who died happily from 1.9.56 till this day particularly those who got stagnant wages with no pension/ pittance of it till 1.8.97) So it’s no surprise that everyone is looking to add more happiness to their lives. We want to know how to stop feeling stressed and to smile more. Or how to bring more fun into our date nights. Or what kinds of plants will improve our mood (hint: Stay away from pointy leaves). With such demand to get happier, there’s been perhaps an even greater supply to meet it; from feel-good inspirational quotes to in-depth scientific studies, happiness has become big business. But the abundance of information out there can leave the average person overwhelmed. You are busy and likely just looking for some simple tips to add more fun to your day—without all the scientific jargon or unrealistic advice about the best yoga positions to save your marriage. If you’re feeling stressed or unsatisfied, you’re likely looking for sensible, actionable, and ultimately fun tips to help you get happy. Some of the tips might sound familiar (maybe since you’re already a generally happy person) but others will, I hope, catch you by surprise or get you to see your habits or daily life in a new light. It does provide some accessible insights that will help you live your life with a little more cheer and a few more laughs throughout the day. I dove into the vast amount of data available and interviewed psychologists, researchers, and happiness experts to find some of the most surprising, useful, and interesting research about happiness and how we can get more of it in our lives. What Exactly Is Happiness? It’s a question that has been pondered by everyone from Plato to Al Green, and the answers vary as widely as the people asking. The word happiness derives from the word for luck, as in “happenstance” or “haphazard.” At least going back to before the Enlightenment, many viewed it as a matter of random luck or divine fortune if some- one felt happy or not. To a degree, this is true—several researchers have made a case that happiness is genetic or hardwired into our personality. At the other end of the spectrum are those who believe happiness can be boiled down to an equation: a certain level of dopa- mine plus stimulation to a particular part of the brain, and bingo, you’re happy. But for many who have looked into the question, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
Two Types of Happiness: Instant Gratification Versus Long-Term Fulfilment Researchers have answered the question “What is happiness?” with two different, awkward-to-pronounce adjectives: hedonic and eudae- monic. Hedonic happiness is all about maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain, and tends to be characterized as momentary or superficial. It may be the satisfaction you get from eating a great meal, or the good feeling after a workout or a successful date— whatever experience gives you, personally, enjoyment and delight. Critics point out that using this simple “more pleasure than dis- pleasure” equation fails to really get at what it means to be happy. These folks embrace a different definition of happiness: eudaemonic happiness, a broader sense of psychological well-being—that you are living a fulfilling life in line with your personal goals and values, and perhaps contributing to the larger good of society while you’re at it. It’s a concept Aristotle defined in his Nicomachean Ethics as a flourishing, fulfilled life, rather than a transitory feeling of pleasure, “for as it is not one swallow or one fine day that makes a spring, so it is not one day or a short time that makes a man blessed and happy.” Both forms of happiness will put a smile on your face, but each leads to a distinctly different kind of fulfilment. From a scientific perspective, assessing what can foster these different types of happiness requires different types of measurements and different criteria as well.
While the term hedonism is usually applied to high-living liber- tines looking to indulge every vice they can think of, hedonism in the study of happiness isn’t just about physical pleasure. It can include your feelings about a wide range of positive and negative aspects of your life, summed up as subjective well-being. Edward F. Diener, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, sees subjective well-being as the combination of three ingredients: Life satisfaction Positive mood Absence of negative mood Put them all together, and you get your happiness level. Reflecting how happiness can be measured at different levels, Diener devel- oped three different scales to analyze different types of happiness: the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience measures more imme- diate positive or negative feelings; the Satisfaction with Life Scale asks about one’s general outlook on life; and the Flourishing Scale has an eight-item summary that measures one’s self-perceived success in areas such as relationships and self-esteem. Be Your True Self But getting your immediate needs met in the form of a good meal or workout doesn’t equate to true long-term happiness, according to the eudaemonic view. So happiness is far from a simple concept. It can refer to a wide range of moods, emotions, sensations, and traits, each with its respective benefits and drawbacks. Focus on the 40 Percent: 50 percent of our happiness is genetic and 10 percent is related to life circumstances; the remaining 40 percent is under our power to change. That 40 percent can be the difference between doing pretty well and doing great, or feeling cruddy and feeling okay. And researchers have found plenty of evidence to back up the assertion that change is possible, whether through modifying work habits, taking a different approach to your communication style with friends or partners, or just rethinking the interior design of your home.
What is the number of 20% rich families in india and what is the average worth including their residence: AI Mode: In 2025, the top 20% of Indian families represent approximately 59 to 60 million households. Based on current wealth distribution data, their average net worth—which includes residences, gold, and financial assets—is estimated at approximately ₹50–60 lakh per family. Wealth Profile of the Top 20% Total Number of Families: As of late 2025, there are approximately 296 million to 300 million households in India. The top 20% equates to roughly 59.2 million to 60 million households. Asset Composition: For this segment, wealth is heavily concentrated in physical assets. Real estate (primary residence) and gold typically account for the vast majority of their net worth. Indian household gold reserves alone are estimated to have crossed $5 trillion in value by 2025. Wealth Distribution Context: Top 1%: Owns roughly 40% of national wealth, with an average net worth per household estimated between ₹2.5 crore and ₹3 crore. Top 10%: Owns approximately 65% of the country's total wealth. The "Rich" Threshold: In major metros, a household net worth of ₹50 lakh to ₹1 crore is categorized as the "Upper Middle Class" to "Rich" entry point. Key Affluence Benchmarks (2025) Category Approx. Household Number Net Worth Threshold Top 20% (Avg) ~60 Million ₹50 – ₹60 Lakh Millionaire Households 8.71 Lakh ₹8.5 Crore+ Super Rich (V-HNI) Varies ₹25 – ₹50 Crore Billionaires 358 Individuals ₹8,500 Crore+ While the top 20% are significantly better off than the bottom 50% (who hold only about 6.4% of national wealth), the vast majority of wealth within this top quintile is concentrated in the hands of the top 1% to 3%. (Though In-Service and its mentors may have cheated post 1.8.97 retirees who come under 20% top families, their worth may be less than the latter they will retire under top 10% families whose average worth is worth is 1.91 crore. Both In-Service and retirees had not done an iota of service to 8o% families)
4 comments:
What Is Happiness? “I must learn to brook being happier than I deserve.” – JANE AUSTIN, PERSUASION In an age of anxiety and uncertainty, we’re all searching for ways to feel better. One in six Americans is on some kind of antidepressant. Even those who are doing relatively well have become aware that material success does not necessarily translate into a more durable sense of well-being. (For your good LIC/ GOI advise their retirees to follow their seniors who died happily from 1.9.56 till this day particularly those who got stagnant wages with no pension/ pittance of it till 1.8.97) So it’s no surprise that everyone is looking to add more happiness to their lives. We want to know how to stop feeling stressed and to smile more. Or how to bring more fun into our date nights. Or what kinds of plants will improve our mood (hint: Stay away from pointy leaves). With such demand to get happier, there’s been perhaps an even greater supply to meet it; from feel-good inspirational quotes to in-depth scientific studies, happiness has become big business. But the abundance of information out there can leave the average person overwhelmed. You are busy and likely just looking for some simple tips to add more fun to your day—without all the scientific jargon or unrealistic advice about the best yoga positions to save your marriage. If you’re feeling stressed or unsatisfied, you’re likely looking for sensible, actionable, and ultimately fun tips to help you get happy. Some of the tips might sound familiar (maybe since you’re already a generally happy person) but others will, I hope, catch you by surprise or get you to see your habits or daily life in a new light. It does provide some accessible insights that will help you live your life with a little more cheer and a few more laughs throughout the day. I dove into the vast amount of data available and interviewed psychologists, researchers, and happiness experts to find some of the most surprising, useful, and interesting research about happiness and how we can get more of it in our lives. What Exactly Is Happiness? It’s a question that has been pondered by everyone from Plato to Al Green, and the answers vary as widely as the people asking. The word happiness derives from the word for luck, as in “happenstance” or “haphazard.” At least going back to before the Enlightenment, many viewed it as a matter of random luck or divine fortune if some- one felt happy or not. To a degree, this is true—several researchers have made a case that happiness is genetic or hardwired into our personality. At the other end of the spectrum are those who believe happiness can be boiled down to an equation: a certain level of dopa- mine plus stimulation to a particular part of the brain, and bingo, you’re happy. But for many who have looked into the question, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.
Two Types of Happiness: Instant Gratification Versus Long-Term Fulfilment Researchers have answered the question “What is happiness?” with two different, awkward-to-pronounce adjectives: hedonic and eudae- monic. Hedonic happiness is all about maximizing pleasure and minimizing pain, and tends to be characterized as momentary or superficial. It may be the satisfaction you get from eating a great meal, or the good feeling after a workout or a successful date— whatever experience gives you, personally, enjoyment and delight. Critics point out that using this simple “more pleasure than dis- pleasure” equation fails to really get at what it means to be happy. These folks embrace a different definition of happiness: eudaemonic happiness, a broader sense of psychological well-being—that you are living a fulfilling life in line with your personal goals and values, and perhaps contributing to the larger good of society while you’re at it. It’s a concept Aristotle defined in his Nicomachean Ethics as a flourishing, fulfilled life, rather than a transitory feeling of pleasure, “for as it is not one swallow or one fine day that makes a spring, so it is not one day or a short time that makes a man blessed and happy.” Both forms of happiness will put a smile on your face, but each leads to a distinctly different kind of fulfilment. From a scientific perspective, assessing what can foster these different types of happiness requires different types of measurements and different criteria as well.
While the term hedonism is usually applied to high-living liber- tines looking to indulge every vice they can think of, hedonism in the study of happiness isn’t just about physical pleasure. It can include your feelings about a wide range of positive and negative aspects of your life, summed up as subjective well-being. Edward F. Diener, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, sees subjective well-being as the combination of three ingredients: Life satisfaction Positive mood Absence of negative mood Put them all together, and you get your happiness level. Reflecting how happiness can be measured at different levels, Diener devel- oped three different scales to analyze different types of happiness: the Scale of Positive and Negative Experience measures more imme- diate positive or negative feelings; the Satisfaction with Life Scale asks about one’s general outlook on life; and the Flourishing Scale has an eight-item summary that measures one’s self-perceived success in areas such as relationships and self-esteem. Be Your True Self But getting your immediate needs met in the form of a good meal or workout doesn’t equate to true long-term happiness, according to the eudaemonic view. So happiness is far from a simple concept. It can refer to a wide range of moods, emotions, sensations, and traits, each with its respective benefits and drawbacks. Focus on the 40 Percent: 50 percent of our happiness is genetic and 10 percent is related to life circumstances; the remaining 40 percent is under our power to change. That 40 percent can be the difference between doing pretty well and doing great, or feeling cruddy and feeling okay. And researchers have found plenty of evidence to back up the assertion that change is possible, whether through modifying work habits, taking a different approach to your communication style with friends or partners, or just rethinking the interior design of your home.
What is the number of 20% rich families in india and what is the average worth including their residence: AI Mode:
In 2025, the top 20% of Indian families represent approximately 59 to 60 million households. Based on current wealth distribution data, their average net worth—which includes residences, gold, and financial assets—is estimated at approximately ₹50–60 lakh per family.
Wealth Profile of the Top 20%
Total Number of Families: As of late 2025, there are approximately 296 million to 300 million households in India. The top 20% equates to roughly 59.2 million to 60 million households.
Asset Composition: For this segment, wealth is heavily concentrated in physical assets. Real estate (primary residence) and gold typically account for the vast majority of their net worth. Indian household gold reserves alone are estimated to have crossed $5 trillion in value by 2025.
Wealth Distribution Context:
Top 1%: Owns roughly 40% of national wealth, with an average net worth per household estimated between ₹2.5 crore and ₹3 crore.
Top 10%: Owns approximately 65% of the country's total wealth.
The "Rich" Threshold: In major metros, a household net worth of ₹50 lakh to ₹1 crore is categorized as the "Upper Middle Class" to "Rich" entry point.
Key Affluence Benchmarks (2025)
Category Approx. Household Number Net Worth Threshold
Top 20% (Avg) ~60 Million ₹50 – ₹60 Lakh
Millionaire Households 8.71 Lakh ₹8.5 Crore+
Super Rich (V-HNI) Varies ₹25 – ₹50 Crore
Billionaires 358 Individuals ₹8,500 Crore+
While the top 20% are significantly better off than the bottom 50% (who hold only about 6.4% of national wealth), the vast majority of wealth within this top quintile is concentrated in the hands of the top 1% to 3%. (Though In-Service and its mentors may have cheated post 1.8.97 retirees who come under 20% top families, their worth may be less than the latter they will retire under top 10% families whose average worth is worth is 1.91 crore. Both In-Service and retirees had not done an iota of service to 8o% families)
Post a Comment