We know a thing by its opposite. Hot Means Nothing without cold, and since im traveling the world to explore the nature of happiness and my own struggles to find it, i decide to visit an unhappy place. And if im going to do unhappy, i want somewhere that does it with panache and takes pride in its wallowing, somewhere full of beautiful expressions like, i dont want to feel good. I just want my neighbor to feel bad. [upbeat acoustic music] welcome to bulgaria. [nicky blitz blast off] getting too close, better pull on back what if i travel the world, exploring what makes some places happier than others . Need a onetwo. Im looking at the ways that where we are. Yeah, im acomin, im acomin affect who we are. Whoo, im acomin im acomin, yeah. Its been said that the search for happiness is the chief source of unhappiness. Im acomin, im acomin. Well, thats okay. Im already unhappy, so ive got nothing to lose. Lets go lets all blast off [projector humming] [upbeat music] where are we . Somewhere
over time happiness doesn t continue to increase just because wealth does. [cash register chimes] basically, money makes a place happier, but only up to a point. since joining the european union in 2007, bulgaria has improved its economic standing, but now, rather than comparing themselves to other former soviet countries, bulgarians measure themselves against wealthier ones like germany and france. it fostered a culture of envy and introduced an unhappiness that s harder to define. fortunately, i know where they re working on a definition. it s a beautiful book fair you got here. i was looking for something on a kind of that really ineffable, particular bulgarian strain of sadness. - [speaking bulgarian] - the grief that anchors the bulgarian soul. - ok, my book is the physics of sorrow, so it s if it works for you
- oh, you have a book called the physics of sorrow ? - yeah, yeah, the physics of sorrow. - amazing. how did that happen? [upbeat music] georgi gospodinov is one of bulgaria s most famous authors. he was even nominated for a nobel prize, which well, obviously he had agreed to do this show before the nomination took place. his writings center on stories about his motherland s unique brand of misery. - tuga. - tuga. - tu-ga, slowly. - tu - tu tuga. - tu - ga. ok. so could you feel, like, your adam s apple. - it feels like you re crying. it feels like you re weeping when you say it. like, tuga. and what is this translation of this particular bulgarian word? - in english, it translated like sorrow, but it could be sadness. but it could be melancholy, sorrow. - ah, ok. in his writing, georgi defines bulgarian sadness as dear god, this is heavy a longing for something that hasn t happened,