

Is Progress Making Us Miserable? | Tim Lomas | Ep. 65
13 snips Aug 8, 2025
Tim Lomas, a psychology research scientist at Harvard's Human Flourishing Program, dives into global happiness trends. He discusses the complexities of measuring well-being, revealing how community and relationships often outweigh wealth. Lomas highlights cultural biases and fascinating findings, such as how medium-income countries can achieve high flourishing levels. He also explores gender disparities in well-being, noting that cultural contexts significantly influence perceptions. Throughout, he underlines the vital role of personal agency and community support in fostering happiness.
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From Ska Singer To Researcher
- Tim Lomas previously worked as a ska band singer, a psychiatric nursing assistant, and an English teacher in China.
- These varied roles show his practical background before moving into academic research on flourishing.
Longitudinal Study Is Globally Ambitious
- The Global Flourishing Study follows the same people across countries over multiple waves instead of taking one-off snapshots.
- That longitudinal design reveals trends and possible causal patterns that cross-sectional polls cannot capture.
Six Core Domains Of Flourishing
- VanderWeele's framework measures happiness, health, meaning, character, close relationships, plus material stability as a sixth domain.
- Material stability secures other domains rather than standing identically alongside them.