Why never a 10?

I was out dancing on Saturday, taking a small break from a week of 14 hour days to finish a contract when I was asked a very interesting question by a Julie.

She asked me: why don't you ever put a 10 on your "daily hapiness index". And I found myself explaining, rationalizing, this completely abitrary hapiness evaluation system that "never goes higher than 8".

-"Everyday should be a 10!" She said.

-"well, for me it more like an average. Some things in my day, and my life, are 10s others are 4s some are 7s and I average it out to... I guess today's an 8?"

-"so, when you'll be on your death bed, you'll look back at your life, and be like, that was a 6, that was a 3, that was a 10 and average it out? You can't average out hapiness!"

-"uhh, I guess so."

-"if your day's not a 10, then you either have to make it a 10, or perceive it as a 10"

-"that seems like good advice"

-"and here's more good advice: whatever qualities you're looking for in someone else , you should aspire to have those qualities yourself. That way you're more likely to find that person, and if you don't, you will become that person and hanging out with yourself won't be such a chore"

- "....interesting"

I may have taken editorial liberties with this conversation, I'm actually suprised I heard any of it, the music was VERY LOUD. Good music though, very fun to dance to, solid night at Sala Rosa with extreme air conditioning.

Mr. Hanneman presents:
A Deconstruction of the Daily Hapiness Index.
A study in the pursuit of hapiness.

Stage 1 - Quantification.

Time: Monday, July 31st, 2006
Place: Verdun and Montreal
Subject: 5'10", 165lbs, mildly dazed, unkept appearance

Details:
Slept 4 hours: 3
Last minute computer problems: 2
Hectic and successful work day: 8
No parking tickets (for two meter infractions): 10
E-mail accusing me of "not following protocol": 4
Hosting BBQ for Shelley, Dan & Christine & the kids: 9
Seeing Micha (age 2) and Hava (age 3): 10
Busted car door: 5
Getting great comments on my animation work: 10
Forgetting the PIN number and locking my business account ATM card when I really needed it: 0

OK, you get the idea, there's tons more daily shannannigans that can affect the index. But the "overall daily feeling" (ODF) for today was 8.

This "overall daily feeling" index can be affected by the "general life index".

The general life index (GLI) works like this: where am I in my life now and how is it affecting me.

Here too, the list can go on forever. But the main items are:

Family: 10
I wish I had one of my own: 5
I have a car: 9
I wish it was a standard transmission: 4
Clean drinking water come out of my taps: 7
There's hot water too: 8
Limited sexual activity: 1
Limited physical contact: 0
Advantages to being single: 7
Being able to eat very well: 10
Having great roomates: 9
Having a great house to share: 10
Limited income: 3
Working for myself: 9
Self improvement: 8
Bad routines and bad habits: 4
Verdun, Montreal, Canada: 8

Mathematically... that averages out to 6.588235294!!

As you can see from this randomly precise system, the ODF rating of 8 will be affected by the GLI rating of 6.588235294 and bring down the Index to a 7.(something) rounded down to 7.

So to answer Julie's original question, a 10 is improbable because the GLI rating gets in the way. There are exceptions however, reserved for the "best day in my life" moments. Which sometimes happen, but more frenquently when great sex is involved.

Daily Hapiness Index: 7/10