Statistician Nic Marks asks why we measure a nation's success by its productivity -- instead of by the happiness and well-being of its people. He introduces the Happy Planet Index, which tracks national well-being against resource use (because a happy life doesn't have to cost the earth). Which countries rank highest in the HPI? You might be surprised.
Nic Marks thinks quality of life is measurable, and that true contentment comes not from the accumulation of material wealth but from our connections with others, engagement with the world, and a sense of autonomy. This isn't just theory: a pioneer in the field of well-being research, Marks creates statistical methods to measure happiness, analyzing and interpreting the evidence so that it can be applied to such policy fields as education, sustainable development, healthcare, and economics.
The founder of the Centre for Well-Being, an independent think tank at the New Economics Foundation (NEF), in London, Marks is particularly keen to promote a balance between sustainable development and quality of life. To investigate this, he devised the Happy Planet Index, a global index of human well-being and environmental impact. The results made headlines: People in the world's wealthiest countries, who consume the most of the planet's resources, don't come out on top in terms of well-being. Which raises the question: What purpose does unfettered economic growth serve?
To measure (and possibly improve) your own HPI, visit two useful sites from NEF: 5 Ways to Well-Being and Well-Being at Work.
US-hell on earth for most and the most complacent and ignorant middle class on the face of the planet.
A brilliant, engaging, charming man.
A deceptively simple but powerful message.
Nic Marks goes right to the heart of it all: we're looking in the wrong place for the key to better lives, a better planet, true happiness.
We all must look within first, before any truly progressive, sustainable changes take place in our world.
We must all make a simple but crucial change in our attitude and priorities - the shift must be cultural, global, social, political, economic.
We need to do a mental 180 about what's really important.
Nic's simple, radical idea is that we must start valuing PEOPLE and QUALITY over quantity and materialism.
It's the only thing that will save us.
Our change of heart and spirit is the key.
It's the only thing that makes it all worthwhile. :)
(This video so needs to go viral - it should be watched by every human being on the planet.)
In my country despite there is not to much money like here USA, I can affirm to You that, people are very happy there. We value a lot relationships.
Costa Rica - Happiest country on earth. No Army. Massive social programs. 1/4 of the resources it takes to produce their happiness compared to western world.
Win.
They must be doing alot of something right.
Apparently, they very highly value their people.
I do believe we here in the US have it all bass ackwards.
Now there's a concept I can totally get behind:
No armies. No wars.