Oh, about a month ago, amongst the various British “BroadSheets” I “flick through” was an article in “The Times” Teenagers in the UK face ‘happiness recession’ [1] (29th August 2024) which said the following :
The most recent Pisa (Programme for International Student Assessment) survey, for 2022, showed that on average 26 per cent of 15-year-olds in the UK had low life satisfaction, a percentage above the European average of 17 per cent and putting the UK at the bottom of 27 ranked countries
Now, perhaps it was the somewhat nonsensical Figures that 26% is 1% above 17% that caught my Attention but nevertheless, I mused, how could the UK be at the bottom of a table of 27 Countries eh ? 🧐
From : Why do UK teens have among the lowest life satisfaction in the OECD ? (19/12/23)
So I spent some time analysing the Source Figures from “OECD, PISA 2022 Database, Tables” Spreadsheet [I suggest you right click / save as] : PISA 2022 Tables Figures Links Volumes 1 and 2 via the publication of PISA 2022 Results (Volume I and II) – Country Notes: United Kingdom.
Yet despite my skepticism the data did however put the UK almost at the bottom for those 15 year old Teens who recorded a value from 0 to 4 (except for Turkey).
Having not been able to debunk it, I let the matter drop until I read a post on Jackson Peterson’s Facebook quoting PISA facts and figures comparing test scores between the United States and Europe.
Then, unintentionally, it was as if reflecting upon the above, in a Meditative state-of-mind, that a whole sequence of Thoughts and Memories and Images appeared to my Awareness, as if, subconsciously “it” was “processing” the continuation of the subject matter.
Oh, perhaps inspired by the Koan “Who are You ?”, memories of my Genealogy arose, such as being English on my Paternal side as well as having Swiss, Romanian and Java & Borneo “roots” on my Maternal side.
I’d say it wasn’t a matter of patriotism, or of feeling “slighted” at such an apparent “low ranking” yet, I guess, psychologically “deep down” my Britishness needed to investigate further to see whether or not what was said had any truth to it eh ? 🤷
But it was at this point, suddenly, there was a Cessation of the whole process, as if the subconscious Percolation or Germination of the Subject totally “fell away”.
Ah, it’s funny because it was like a live demonstration of what happens “internally” when your Mind, I suggest, applies itself to pondering such a Koan eh ? 🧘
Now, if you’re interested, here’s a fairly short video on the Neuroscicence behind it all :
[1] : Archived here