Measuring Wellbeing - we need more nuanced data

Especially in current times, it is worth asking by which measures we define wellbeing on a societal level. Mostly, wellbeing is measured by the age of death, medication, visits to the doctor, etc. What we often don’t pay attention to, as a society, is our wellbeing deep down, how we relate to the ultimate issues of life. Yet, I think, just like the age of death, answers to these questions can be conducted in a sound and scientific manner, providing data for political decision-making. Such questions might be: 

  1. How many people feel they are following their dreams?
  2. How many people are tormented by the existential crisis, and how seriously?
  3. How many people feel like they are not true to themselves?
  4. How far do our actions differ from our moral reasoning?
  5. How many of us do things that are counter to our moral intuitions in our professional lives?
  6. How many of us feel a lack of meaning in life?
  7. How afraid are we of death, and how does this fear shape our lives?