The mayor of Vilnius plans to install a huge screen on the town hall to broadcast a real-time “happiness barometer” that will monitor the mood of the Lithuanian capital.
The giant display will monitor the level of happiness among the city’s 520,000 residents by showing a number on the scale of one to 10 that reflects tabulated votes sent in by locals from their mobile phones and computers.
In real-time, it will broadcast to residents whether they are feeling happy or unhappy at any given moment.
The move comes after a world-wide survey of 58 countries ranked Lithuanians the unhappiest people in the world after Serbians, Palestinians, Egyptians, and Romanians.
Technically, the barometer will be driven by emails and sms text messages from mobile phones. Citizens will give a rating from 1-10 whereby 1 is, presumably, a bridge-jumping level of depression, and 10, represents sheer, unadulterated ecstasy.
“This barometer is a great tool for politicians. If we take a decision and see a sharp fall in the mood of the city, then we know we have done something horribly wrong,” mayor Arturas Zuokas said.
I – Word Understanding
Happiness barometer – people’s mood were surveyed thu mobile phones and internet.
Monitor – observe and check the progress or quality of (something) over a period of time.
Scale – measure
Tabulated votes – arrange registry
II – Have your say
1. Lithuania, a former Soviet republic and now a member of the European Union.Quite a big mystery why Lithuanians are so unhappy for the outsider.
2. It seems that several countries are becoming more aware of their constituents happiness level.Few of those countries are Canada, Netherlands, Switzerland and Denmark.An overall positive oultlook of the nations might reflect on country’s welfare system and economy.
3. In recent survey done in emerging countries, both of Philippines and Mexico shared the key happiness.They are travelling around the world, volunteering to help others and meeting the love of their life.Money and celebrity life are far from their perspective of happiness.
154 Lithuanian capital to install public ‘happiness barometer’
