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.
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...
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
October 11, 2025 at 8:14 AM
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...
frankmartela.substack.com/p/no-money-b...
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
areena.yle.fi/1-72847864
October 1, 2025 at 1:42 PM
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
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...
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....
www.cbsnews.com
September 28, 2025 at 12:28 PM
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...
www.cbsnews.com/video/why-is...
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...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlcP...
Is the World Happiness Report bullsh*t? | Yascha Mounk & Frank Martela #537
YouTube video by Futucast
www.youtube.com
September 25, 2025 at 5:55 AM
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...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlcP...
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.
September 20, 2025 at 12:35 PM
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.
Reposted by Frank Martela
History rhymes a bit too well sometimes.
September 19, 2025 at 11:37 PM
History rhymes a bit too well sometimes.
Reposted by Frank Martela
"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...
#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?
www.theatlantic.com
September 15, 2025 at 3:12 PM
"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...
#AcademicSky
www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...
Reposted by Frank Martela
Some personal news:
I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting.
Thread incoming.
substack.com/@karenattiah...
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
September 15, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Some personal news:
I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting.
Thread incoming.
substack.com/@karenattiah...
I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting.
Thread incoming.
substack.com/@karenattiah...
Reposted by Frank Martela
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
September 7, 2025 at 8:15 PM
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.”
"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."
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
August 22, 2025 at 4:16 PM
"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."
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."
Reposted by Frank Martela
“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
―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.
www.nbcnews.com
August 20, 2025 at 12:37 PM
“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
―Orwell, 1984
Kirjoitin tekoälystä asiantuntijatyössä:
"Tekoäly saattaa lisätä asiantuntijatehtävien laatueroja: He, jotka ovat jo valmiiksi osaavimpia pystyvät erottamaan tekoälyn tarjoamista syötteistä jyvät akanoista. Keskinkertaiset tekijät tekevät tekoälyn avulla yhtä keskinkertaista jälkeä kuin aiemminkin."
"Tekoäly saattaa lisätä asiantuntijatehtävien laatueroja: He, jotka ovat jo valmiiksi osaavimpia pystyvät erottamaan tekoälyn tarjoamista syötteistä jyvät akanoista. Keskinkertaiset tekijät tekevät tekoälyn avulla yhtä keskinkertaista jälkeä kuin aiemminkin."
Luovat loikkaavat, keskinkertaiset kompuroivat? Frank Martela: näin ihmiset pesevät vielä tekoälyn
Tutkija Frank Martela kertoo, missä työtehtävissä tekoäly auttaa parhaiten ja mitkä taidot tekevät edelleen ihmisistä korvaamattomia.
duunitori.fi
August 7, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Kirjoitin tekoälystä asiantuntijatyössä:
"Tekoäly saattaa lisätä asiantuntijatehtävien laatueroja: He, jotka ovat jo valmiiksi osaavimpia pystyvät erottamaan tekoälyn tarjoamista syötteistä jyvät akanoista. Keskinkertaiset tekijät tekevät tekoälyn avulla yhtä keskinkertaista jälkeä kuin aiemminkin."
"Tekoäly saattaa lisätä asiantuntijatehtävien laatueroja: He, jotka ovat jo valmiiksi osaavimpia pystyvät erottamaan tekoälyn tarjoamista syötteistä jyvät akanoista. Keskinkertaiset tekijät tekevät tekoälyn avulla yhtä keskinkertaista jälkeä kuin aiemminkin."
Eight decades: That seems to be the time it took to forget the horrors of WWII, and for leaders to start rip apart the institutions that were meant to ensure that it would happen ”never again.”
We are losing the last of the generation who understand just how evil actual fascism is, how hard it is to rid the world of authoritarian governments once they’re established, and how hard it is to build a successful alternative. www.doomsdayscenario.co/p/what-we-lo...
What We Lost When We Lost the Greatest Generation
It's no coincidence that democracy is backsliding in the US exactly eighty years after the end of World War II.
www.doomsdayscenario.co
August 6, 2025 at 5:50 AM
Eight decades: That seems to be the time it took to forget the horrors of WWII, and for leaders to start rip apart the institutions that were meant to ensure that it would happen ”never again.”
I definitely need to read Goliath’s Curse by Luke Kemp that “covers the rise and collapse of more than 400 societies.”
“People are fundamentally egalitarian but are led to collapses by enriched, status-obsessed elites, while past collapses often improved the lives of ordinary citizens.”
“People are fundamentally egalitarian but are led to collapses by enriched, status-obsessed elites, while past collapses often improved the lives of ordinary citizens.”
‘Self-termination is most likely’: the history and future of societal collapse
An epic analysis of 5,000 years of civilisation argues that a global collapse is coming unless inequality is vanquished
www.theguardian.com
August 3, 2025 at 1:12 PM
I definitely need to read Goliath’s Curse by Luke Kemp that “covers the rise and collapse of more than 400 societies.”
“People are fundamentally egalitarian but are led to collapses by enriched, status-obsessed elites, while past collapses often improved the lives of ordinary citizens.”
“People are fundamentally egalitarian but are led to collapses by enriched, status-obsessed elites, while past collapses often improved the lives of ordinary citizens.”
Reposted by Frank Martela
Israel has stopped pretending that they are targeting Hamas, while killing civilians:
”Almost all the casualties in Gaza in recent days have been linked to the delivery of aid rather than Israeli strikes on Hamas targets.”
www.bbc.com/news/article...
”Almost all the casualties in Gaza in recent days have been linked to the delivery of aid rather than Israeli strikes on Hamas targets.”
www.bbc.com/news/article...
June 17, 2025 at 4:56 PM
Israel has stopped pretending that they are targeting Hamas, while killing civilians:
”Almost all the casualties in Gaza in recent days have been linked to the delivery of aid rather than Israeli strikes on Hamas targets.”
www.bbc.com/news/article...
”Almost all the casualties in Gaza in recent days have been linked to the delivery of aid rather than Israeli strikes on Hamas targets.”
www.bbc.com/news/article...
In my latest post, I explain why having high self-esteem is "like shoulder pads and mullet haircuts. Big in the 1980s, but all the hype feels a bit embarrassing nowadays."
We should focus on another distinction: that between needy and stable self-esteem:
frankmartela.substack.com/p/untangle-y...
We should focus on another distinction: that between needy and stable self-esteem:
frankmartela.substack.com/p/untangle-y...
Untangle your self-esteem: It's not low vs. high but needy vs. stable
Introducing 4 steps to get from needy self-esteem to stable self-esteem
frankmartela.substack.com
June 5, 2025 at 1:42 PM
In my latest post, I explain why having high self-esteem is "like shoulder pads and mullet haircuts. Big in the 1980s, but all the hype feels a bit embarrassing nowadays."
We should focus on another distinction: that between needy and stable self-esteem:
frankmartela.substack.com/p/untangle-y...
We should focus on another distinction: that between needy and stable self-esteem:
frankmartela.substack.com/p/untangle-y...
So you want to be happy? Don’t. Happiness is just a thermometer - Don’t waste your time chasing it.
To celebrate the publication of my new book, Stop Chasing Happiness – A Pessimist’s Guide to a Good Life, I created a series of Substack posts covering themes from the book.
Read the first here:
To celebrate the publication of my new book, Stop Chasing Happiness – A Pessimist’s Guide to a Good Life, I created a series of Substack posts covering themes from the book.
Read the first here:
Happiness is just a thermometer - Don’t waste your time chasing it
Pursuit of happiness can make us less happy. It is time to rethink how to approach happiness.
open.substack.com
May 30, 2025 at 2:24 PM
So you want to be happy? Don’t. Happiness is just a thermometer - Don’t waste your time chasing it.
To celebrate the publication of my new book, Stop Chasing Happiness – A Pessimist’s Guide to a Good Life, I created a series of Substack posts covering themes from the book.
Read the first here:
To celebrate the publication of my new book, Stop Chasing Happiness – A Pessimist’s Guide to a Good Life, I created a series of Substack posts covering themes from the book.
Read the first here:
Israel celebrates participation in Eurovision by intensifying the killing of Palestinians. Feeling powerless by inaction of Europe, I donated to Doctors without Borders to at least do something to help those targeted by ethnic cleansing!
May 17, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Israel celebrates participation in Eurovision by intensifying the killing of Palestinians. Feeling powerless by inaction of Europe, I donated to Doctors without Borders to at least do something to help those targeted by ethnic cleansing!
Reposted by Frank Martela
OK, this is wild.
In September 2023, geophysicists across the world started monitoring a very odd signal coming from the ground under them.
It was picked up in the Arctic. And Antarctica. It was detected everywhere, every 90 seconds, as regular as a metronome, for *nine days*.
What the HELL?
1/
In September 2023, geophysicists across the world started monitoring a very odd signal coming from the ground under them.
It was picked up in the Arctic. And Antarctica. It was detected everywhere, every 90 seconds, as regular as a metronome, for *nine days*.
What the HELL?
1/
May 12, 2025 at 3:20 PM
OK, this is wild.
In September 2023, geophysicists across the world started monitoring a very odd signal coming from the ground under them.
It was picked up in the Arctic. And Antarctica. It was detected everywhere, every 90 seconds, as regular as a metronome, for *nine days*.
What the HELL?
1/
In September 2023, geophysicists across the world started monitoring a very odd signal coming from the ground under them.
It was picked up in the Arctic. And Antarctica. It was detected everywhere, every 90 seconds, as regular as a metronome, for *nine days*.
What the HELL?
1/
Professor Richard Ryan, the world's leading expert on motivation and well-being, is coming to Finland and we are excited to organize a seminar at Aalto about how to lead engagement for well-being and performance!
So join us on June 3rd at 16-18!
Free of charge, register here:
lnkd.in/diZMNTHb
So join us on June 3rd at 16-18!
Free of charge, register here:
lnkd.in/diZMNTHb
May 12, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Professor Richard Ryan, the world's leading expert on motivation and well-being, is coming to Finland and we are excited to organize a seminar at Aalto about how to lead engagement for well-being and performance!
So join us on June 3rd at 16-18!
Free of charge, register here:
lnkd.in/diZMNTHb
So join us on June 3rd at 16-18!
Free of charge, register here:
lnkd.in/diZMNTHb
In this year’s Champions League, the best goalies take their teams to the final. 😐⚽️
#championsleague #ucl
#championsleague #ucl
May 7, 2025 at 9:18 PM
In this year’s Champions League, the best goalies take their teams to the final. 😐⚽️
#championsleague #ucl
#championsleague #ucl
What is human well-being? Many key theories of well-being argue that besides positive experiences, well-being is about positive psychological functioning. But what then is positive psychological functioning? This is what my just published article aims to examine:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
May 5, 2025 at 4:01 PM
What is human well-being? Many key theories of well-being argue that besides positive experiences, well-being is about positive psychological functioning. But what then is positive psychological functioning? This is what my just published article aims to examine:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Frank Martela
"Trump is not making America great again. But he is making white, uneducated men feel great again. For them, the MAGA movement offers a newfound sense of community and meaningfulness. Desperation is replaced by empowerment and a sense of purpose."
April 22, 2025 at 5:08 PM
"Trump is not making America great again. But he is making white, uneducated men feel great again. For them, the MAGA movement offers a newfound sense of community and meaningfulness. Desperation is replaced by empowerment and a sense of purpose."
Reposted by Frank Martela
Trump’s success is not dependent on achieving any political goal but on serving as an outlet for emotions. According to a psychological profile of Adolf Hitler, one of his primary rules was “never allow the public to cool off.” This is how both he and Trump create so fanatic movements.
April 22, 2025 at 5:08 PM
Trump’s success is not dependent on achieving any political goal but on serving as an outlet for emotions. According to a psychological profile of Adolf Hitler, one of his primary rules was “never allow the public to cool off.” This is how both he and Trump create so fanatic movements.