my brilliant colleague @robertshrimsley.bsky.social on the threat from Elon Musk’s X platform www.ft.com/content/f270...
Frank Martela
@frankmartela.bsky.social
How to live a good life? Assistant professor @ Aalto University exploring meaning in life, well-being, motivation, and what makes life good. And how organizations and societies can support human flourishing. Psychology, philosophy, organizational research.
Should we ban social media for young people? This is the hot topic right now. So, here’s my take, building on a column I wrote last week for Helsingin Sanomat, Finland's leading newspaper. Main point: Ban until proper restrictions have been implemented: frankmartela.substack.com/p/facebook-i...
Facebook is the Marlboro of our time — Let’s ban it for young people until it’s safe
This is an extended version of a column I wrote for Helsingin Sanomat, Finland’s largest newspaper, making the case for banning social media for adolescents until we have better regulation.
frankmartela.substack.com
Israel systematically rapes Palestinian prisoners, New York Times, UN inquiry, and Save the Children report. Meanwhile, Europe prepares for Eurovision together with Israel, to celebrate our shared values. 😰 www.nytimes.com/2026/05/11/o...
Opinion | The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians
nytimes.com
Voisitko tulla luomaan vähän toivoa yleisöllemme? Voisin toki, mutta en ole kovin kiinnostunut toivosta. En tarvitse toivoa toimiakseni. Toimijuus on tärkeämpää kuin toivo. Siksi toivon haikailemisen sijasta pitäisi etsiä tapoja vahvistaa erityisesti nuorten toimijuutta. www.hs.fi/paakirjoituk...
Kolumni | Toivo on kaksiteräinen miekka
Toimijuus on tärkeämpää kuin toivo. Siksi toivon sijasta pitäisi etsiä tapoja vahvistaa toimijuutta.
hs.fi
Online Now: How developing prosocial motivations shape children’s altruism
How developing prosocial motivations shape children’s altruism
Developmental perspectives are crucial to harnessing the human potential for altruism. We synthesise and highlight recent research on the motivations underlying children’s (costly) prosocial behaviour. The order in which children develop intrinsic, extrinsic, and strategic motivations to benefit others has implications for efforts to positively impact young people’s lives.
dlvr.it
If Hungary can free itself from the rule of a corrupt Russian agent, the USA can too.
A peaceful transition of power is something to celebrate! It is a powerful statement that we, the people, are in charge, empowered through voting to choose our leaders. Viktor Orbán conceding defeat is a win not only for Hungarians, but a win in the global battle between democracies & autocracies!🇭🇺🤩
Democracy has won in Hungary! 🇭🇺 Blessed be the Vance effect!
The tobacco companies of our time found guilty, for the first time, for intentionally producing so addictive products that they harm people’s health: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/25/t...
Meta and YouTube Found Negligent in Landmark Social Media Addiction Case
nytimes.com
Suomalaiset ovat maailman onnellisin kansa. Mikä ilmiötä selittää? #Puistofilosofia 'ssakin vierailleet professori @juhosaariprof.bsky.social sekä filosofi @frankmartela.bsky.social löytävät toimivan yhteiskunnan ja tyytyväisyyden. Ehdoton #lukusuositus! 😊🙏❤️ #Onnellisuus www.hs.fi/suomi/art-20...
Onnellisuus | Professorin mukaan raportti on oikeassa: Olemme maailman onnellisimpia
Suomi julistettiin jälleen maailman onnellisimmaksi maaksi. Kysyimme tutkijoilta, onko todella näin.
hs.fi
So, Finland is happiest again, for the 9th year in a row. Alarmingly, just a few days ago Liberal Democracy Index showed an increased decline in democracy in countries around the world. I wrote about the strong link between democracy and citizen happiness: frankmartela.substack.com/p/why-finlan...
Why Finland is the happiest - Unlike most countries, the government serves the citizens rather than a narrow elite
In an era of democratic decline, happiness index provides a snapshot of how people are doing right now. The democracy index explains whether citizen happiness is in danger.
frankmartela.substack.com
Politics focusing on economics has alienated the people. It is time for politicians to offer visions of good life within the planetary boundaries. This requires a paradigm shift: Instead of maximizing consumption, we should maximize well-being. My latest Substack: open.substack.com/pub/frankmar...
Politics needs a new vision: Well-being in a sustainable way
Politics focusing on economics has alienated the people. It is time for politicians to offer visions of what good life within the planetary boundaries means.
open.substack.com
"Stop Chasing Happiness. Start Building Meaning." I had an interesting conversation with Henry Stewart about happiness and what to pursue in life. Listen to the discussion in his Happy Manifesto podcast, from the link below or wherever you get your podcasts: www.happymanifesto.com/the-podcast/
Minnesota is now seeing the early stages of what fascist paramilitary troops, masked and unaccountable, can do. It is crucial to resist now, strongly yet peacefully. Now it is still possible to protest. Later on in this path the citizens no longer have that privilege, and then it is too late.
Governor Tim Walz@governorwalz.mn.gov · 8mo agoWatch my address on the ongoing federal presence in Minnesota: youtu.be/fGTsYXBWQgU
First article of this year, out now: Using data from 66 countries in World Values Survey, we show that: 1) autonomy is connected to well-being no matter what part of the world we look at. 2) The connection is stronger in wealthy and individualistic countries. link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Great way to do psychological research —> Here’s the longitudinal data, now let’s have an open competition of who can best predict the onset of depression!
Eiko Fried@eikofried.bsky.social · 8mo agoOur machine learning competition on forecasting depression is online! We'd love for as many people as possible to participate. Please share in your respective networks — thank you :). www.staff.universiteitleiden.nl/announcement...
”Kyllä se sateenkaari on suora kannanotto. Me olemme vain ihmisiä ja kaikilla on samat oikeudet olla ihmisinä täällä keskenään. Me olemme niin äijiä, että sateenkaaret, rakkaus tai ponipiirrokset eivät machoutta hetkauta, Mustajärvi sanoo.” Kiitos Pate, lepää rauhassa. 🪦
Pate Mustajärvi sateenkaari-logosta ennen Ratinan-keikkaa: “Me olemme niin äijiä, että sateenkaaret, rakkaus tai ponipiirrokset eivät machoutta hetkauta”
Juhannuksesta alkaen Popeda on heittänyt kolmesta viiteen keikkaan viikossa. Seuraavaksi vuorossa on bändin koko 40-vuotisjuhlavuoden suurin tapaus, keikka Ratinan stadionilla Tampereella.
yle.fi
A study led by Professor Galbraith asked 19 indigenous village communities about life satisfaction. Some of them had average scores above 8.0, which is higher than in Finland or any other country in the world. Can one be happy without money? My new Substack: frankmartela.substack.com/p/no-money-b...
No money but still happier than Finland
Research finds indigenous communities that are happier than any country in the world
frankmartela.substack.com
Miten löytää iloa ja turvaa epävarmoina ja pelottavina aikoina? Tästä aiheesta kävin sunnuntaina keskustelemassa Ilkka Lahden kanssa TV1:n Sunnuntai-ohjelmassa. Oma osuuteni alkaa 32.00 kohdasta. Vastasin muun muassa kysymykseen "Mikä on sinun oma missiosi?" areena.yle.fi/1-72847864
Why is Finland so happy? @cbsnews.com travelled to Finland to find out. I took them to Oodi library and Carita Harju took them to sauna, to get to the heart of the matter. Besides well-functioning institutions, we discussed sense of contentment with what you have: www.cbsnews.com/video/why-is...
Why is Finland so happy?
For its eighth consecutive year, Finland topped the list of happiest countries in the world, according to an annual report published by the University of Oxford in partnership with Gallup and the U.N....
cbsnews.com
Is the World Happiness Report bullsh*t? Professor Yascha Mounk made this provocative claim and Futucast asked us to debate the issue. Despite starting from the opposite sides, I think we ended up finding quite much common ground: www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlcP...
Is the World Happiness Report bullsh*t? | Yascha Mounk & Frank Martela #537
YouTube video by Futucast
youtube.com
Praise to comedians! They do a vital job of ridiculing those in power, exposing any double standards and empty promises. Democracy dies without laughter. That’s why would-be authoritarian leaders are so eager to silence the comedians - their power pose can’t withstand it being poked with ridicule.
"Taking drastic measures against AI in higher education is..about creating the conditions necessary for young people to learn to read, write, and think, which is to say, the conditions necessary for modern civilization to continue to reproduce itself" #AcademicSky www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...
The Question All Colleges Should Ask Themselves About AI
How far are they willing to go to limit its harms?
theatlantic.com
Some personal news: I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting. Thread incoming. substack.com/@karenattiah...
The Washington Post Fired Me — But My Voice Will Not Be Silenced.
I spoke out against hatred and violence in America — and it cost me my job.
substack.com
We might be “experiencing an AI bubble,” Rogé Karma argues. “If that bubble bursts, it could put the dot-com crash to shame—and the tech giants and their Silicon Valley backers won’t be the only ones who suffer.”
Just How Bad Would an AI Bubble Be?
The entire U.S. economy is being propped up by the promise of productivity gains that seem very far from materializing.
bit.ly
"On Saturday evenings, when the rest of the family is already asleep, I end up watching a two-minute video clip featuring Jim Carrey embarrassingly often." I wrote about Jim, existentialism and the art of being born for the third time: "The fact that nothing really matters can be highly liberating."
Jim Carrey and the art of being born for the third time – Existentialism explained
How a brief moment on the Fashion Week red carpet revealed the futility of existence and a way out
frankmartela.substack.com
“Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. ... History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.” ―Orwell, 1984
Trump says the Smithsonian focuses too much on 'how bad slavery was'
A White House official told NBC News that Trump plans to expand his review of museums beyond the Smithsonian, which is based in Washington, D.C.
nbcnews.com