How to be happy and fullfilled in the modern world!

According to scientists, unmarried women without children are the happiest subgroup in the population.

 “Speaking at the Hay festival on Saturday, Paul Dolan, a professor of behavioural science at the London School of Economics, said the latest evidence showed that the traditional markers used to measure success did not correlate with happiness – particularly marriage and raising children.

“Married people are happier than other population subgroups, but only when their spouse is in the room when they’re asked how happy they are. When the spouse is not present: f***ing miserable,” he said.

“We do have some good longitudinal data following the same people over time, but I am going to do a massive disservice to that science and just say: if you’re a man, you should probably get married; if you’re a woman, don’t bother.”

Men benefited from marriage because they “calmed down”, he said. “You take less risks, you earn more money at work, and you live a little longer. She, on the other hand, has to put up with that, and dies sooner than if she never married. The healthiest and happiest population subgroup are women who never married or had children,” he said.”

There you go!

Then there are the women who want children but don’t want to be pregnant. I think I read that Kim Kardashian is having another child, or rather that someone else is having a child for her. Presumably being pregnant would prevent her from pursuing her Law studies. Maybe she is one of those who believes that pregnancy softens the brain!

It seems, from what I read yesterday, that surrogacy is a big thing in the USA, where people can pay others to have their babies on their behalf. (In the UK surrogate mothers can only claim expenses.) And these are not just gay men who want a family or women who have some medical reason why they cannot bear a child themselves. These are often women who don’t want to put their career on hold and can afford to pay for the service. Presumably, if they don’t want to out their careers in hold, they also pay someone else to look after the child, effectively to raise the child.

A child as another fashion accessory? Part of proof of success? How odd! When do they actually bond with that child?

The doctors who assist in providing this service say that they are in the business of making people happy. And presumably also in the business of making money!

Another odd aspect of the modern world is holograms. Once the stuff of science fiction stories, holograms will apparently be used to enable artists such as Roy Orbison to go on tour. A Whitney Houston 3D tour has also been announced and the Egyptians are said to be planning visits to the pyramids with a chance to see Tutankhamun walking around. Just a bit spooky!

But creative technology expert Carl Guyenette predicts that before too long we will be making holographic “phone” calls as easily as we FaceTime nowadays.

These are things we need to get used to, or so they say!