Sex doesn't make us happy (daw)
So one of those weird (yet interesting) survey results were released over the past couple of days, this time by our National Statistical Coordination Board, claiming to be a look into the current state of the nation and its people.
The results: family, health, and religion are the most vital aspects in our pursuit of happiness, while sex, sports, politics, and cultural pursuits are the least important.
Where do I begin? Let's start at the top.
If family is so important, it's unfortunate that so many of them have to be broken apart, simply because there aren't enough decent job opportunities within a province -- or the country -- to keep them together.
If health is so important, it's downright sad that most will have to find make-do measures of maintaining it. Health care is too expensive, and all the best practitioners are no longer with us in our own hospitals anyway, choosing instead to serve Jane Smith in California or John Doe in London.
Religion's always been important (hard to argue against God on this one) but it's too bad we often fail to maturely question within our faith, instead succumbing to piously passive beliefs which seem to hinder us from solving urgent problems -- like overpopulation.
Now the bottom four.
The Inquirer reported cynicism in the NSCB official who released the results, saying that the official suggested that the respondents were perhaps too shy to express their true feelings about sex. I'm going to have to agree with this official. The shyness is cultural (allusion here also to my point about religion), but I think it's safe to say we all want to get laid.
As for sports, one need not look further than Manny Pacquiao to realize that there's something dishonest about the respondents. An entire nation -- wrongfully, by the way -- pins its hopes on a boxer. Kids emulate their favorite NBA stars in their local liga while former PBA players (and referees!) hold positions in government. And we to claim that sports isn't important? Please.
And if politics is so unimportant in our happiness, why do we fuel the evil monster that it is to bring about unhappiness in our lives? Sometimes I wonder if we actually love being depressed, have become addicted to oppression and whining about it.
Perhaps the only completely accurate finding of this survey is how cultural pursuits are of least importance to us. (And I commend the respondents for not counting the acting in soap operas and the singing in Sunday noon time shows as cultural pursuits.) It is our deficiency in this regard, after all, that has bred the rather stagnated -- some would say regressive -- culture that we now have.
And just when I thought this survey had some level of truth, I discover that it is based on a poll of a mere 167 respondents -- 167 respondents who actually wanted to take the survey. Maybe it's fitting that attempts at finding the pulse of the people are as flawed as the people themselves.
The results: family, health, and religion are the most vital aspects in our pursuit of happiness, while sex, sports, politics, and cultural pursuits are the least important.
Where do I begin? Let's start at the top.
If family is so important, it's unfortunate that so many of them have to be broken apart, simply because there aren't enough decent job opportunities within a province -- or the country -- to keep them together.
If health is so important, it's downright sad that most will have to find make-do measures of maintaining it. Health care is too expensive, and all the best practitioners are no longer with us in our own hospitals anyway, choosing instead to serve Jane Smith in California or John Doe in London.
Religion's always been important (hard to argue against God on this one) but it's too bad we often fail to maturely question within our faith, instead succumbing to piously passive beliefs which seem to hinder us from solving urgent problems -- like overpopulation.
Now the bottom four.
The Inquirer reported cynicism in the NSCB official who released the results, saying that the official suggested that the respondents were perhaps too shy to express their true feelings about sex. I'm going to have to agree with this official. The shyness is cultural (allusion here also to my point about religion), but I think it's safe to say we all want to get laid.
As for sports, one need not look further than Manny Pacquiao to realize that there's something dishonest about the respondents. An entire nation -- wrongfully, by the way -- pins its hopes on a boxer. Kids emulate their favorite NBA stars in their local liga while former PBA players (and referees!) hold positions in government. And we to claim that sports isn't important? Please.
And if politics is so unimportant in our happiness, why do we fuel the evil monster that it is to bring about unhappiness in our lives? Sometimes I wonder if we actually love being depressed, have become addicted to oppression and whining about it.
Perhaps the only completely accurate finding of this survey is how cultural pursuits are of least importance to us. (And I commend the respondents for not counting the acting in soap operas and the singing in Sunday noon time shows as cultural pursuits.) It is our deficiency in this regard, after all, that has bred the rather stagnated -- some would say regressive -- culture that we now have.
And just when I thought this survey had some level of truth, I discover that it is based on a poll of a mere 167 respondents -- 167 respondents who actually wanted to take the survey. Maybe it's fitting that attempts at finding the pulse of the people are as flawed as the people themselves.
posted by M.V. at 8:21 AM
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