TED Community » Nic Marks

More About Me

I'm passionate about

That people's lives could be happier and more fulfilling and that Western Societies have been focusing too much on wealth and not enough on well-being.

An idea worth spreading

That happiness works. Happiness has evolved as a human emotion to help us create and seize opportunities - this is in contrast to (so-called) negative emotions which help us deal with threats.

Talk to me about

Happiness, systems thinking and creating positive change in the world.

People don't know that I'm good at

Tennis (well ok - I enjoy it anyway)

My TED Story

First heard of TED about 5 years ago and was bowled over when asked to give a TED talk at the 2010 TEDglobal. Obsessed about my talk for six months before delivering it and was very relieved to deliver pretty much as I wanted to. Since have written one of the first TED books - The Happiness Manifesto - and attended Long Beach in 2011 ... and have done a few TEDx talks - the last with my partner who is an expert on genetics and happiness - will be fun to see when released on line soon as we had a staged argument (to reflect our normal relationship!) ...

Comments

• TEDCred score: +109.00 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.

• +1

  A comment on Talk: Allan Savory: How to fight desertification and reverse climate change

  Mar 4 2013: I have been checking this out with friends in the environmental field - and one told me that the same phenomena is observed in oceans - when pristine coral reefs are observed (these off the Pitcairn islands) there are far more sharks and other apex predators than modern science predicted. It seems that interfering with the predators - changes all other animals' behaviour - in turn leading to a degradation of the whole eco-system. A very believable scenario to me - humans have been killing top predators for millennia and we continue to slaughter sharks to this day.
  I am blown away by this talk ...
• +2

  A reply on Talk: Allan Savory: How to fight desertification and reverse climate change

  Mar 4 2013: I am still blown away that so much could be caused - and reversed - by changing animal behaviour. It makes perfect sense - that humans have unwittingly interfered with predators (as we were scared by them) - and this then changes herbivores behaviour - and their symbiotic relationships with the grasslands. I have just watched the talk again (i saw it live at TED) and I am now forwarding to everyone I know how works in climate change. A true gem uncovered by TED ...
• +7

  A comment on Talk: Allan Savory: How to fight desertification and reverse climate change

  Mar 4 2013: This talk leaves me feeling the most optimistic about climate change for at least 10 years. What a talk -
  What an amazing life's work ... now time to put it into action very widely.
• +4

  A reply on Talk: Nic Marks: The Happy Planet Index

  Jul 16 2012: Hi Alex (something) - this is "he" (Nic Marks!) ... you know my advice to you would be to read the report itself before jumping to ill-founded conclusions ... the HPI is not a measure of happiness but of environmental efficiency of delivering happy and long lives for citizens of nations. So we make no claims about a 'casual' relationship between ecological footprint and happiness - statistically they are quite independent within countries (i.e. no relationship - which is itself interesting) between countries is a different matter - and yes richer countries are (as a general rule) happier than poorer ones (it would be a little weird if not).
  I also in no way place happiness - health - wealth against each other - i was merely reporting what people say they most value. Clearly health and happiness are strongly related (they are highly correlated at personal and international levels) - and wealth is also intertwined with these. What i would say is that we should consider wealth-income-GDP etc as a "means" to an "end" not an end itself - i.e. it is good to be born in a weather country as we are more likely to be happy and healthy - not for the wealth itself ...
  All the dictatorships - civil rights abuses etc that you cite are as you say abuses - and as you point out there are other indexes that deal with these issues - the Happy Planet Index is just saying that we need a positive vision for humankind and it suggests this vision can be articulated as creating great lives that don't cost the earth - or if you prefer - great lives today and tomorrow ... that doesn't seem so ridiculous to me ...
  So please do engage brain in gear before using words like "fatuous" as it just makes you look a little ... well ...
• +1

  A reply on Conversation: Can we really become happier? Happier ourselves? Can we create happier places to work? Or even happier societies?

  Jan 11 2012: I work at a UK think tank - on why Governments should take people's well-being and happiness serously ... so we are a bridge between research and practice ... I have been doing this for 10 years now (I am getting old!) ... but we have had some success as the Uk is the first government in the world to commit to National Accounts of Well-being and is starting to systematicall address some of these issues ...
  More recently I am creating a tool for businesses/organisations to measure the happiness @ work of their employees - which is great fun ... so I am on the practical end of research if you like ... you?

• A reply on Conversation: Can we really become happier? Happier ourselves? Can we create happier places to work? Or even happier societies?

  Jan 11 2012: yes ... happiness that is congruent - coherent with you and your circumstances will be instrumental in creating a set of actions that creates a virtous circle ... it is a complex process! (and i can't type fat enough to express all of my ideas right now!)
• +1

  A reply on Conversation: Can we really become happier? Happier ourselves? Can we create happier places to work? Or even happier societies?

  Jan 11 2012: I think we can choose where we put our energies ... our attention ... and if we choose wisely happiness flows out the side ... tis elusive - we can't go directly for it (like love!) ...
• +7

  A reply on Conversation: Can we really become happier? Happier ourselves? Can we create happier places to work? Or even happier societies?

  Jan 11 2012: For me GIVING is key ... it is within our power to be generous at any time and i truly believe that what we sow we reap ... sometimes people will be ungrateful - be unpleasant but that is their problem ... if we give without expecting back - it comes back (mainly!) ... that is the lovely paradox ... unattachment ... (quite buddhist!)
• +2

  A reply on Conversation: Can we really become happier? Happier ourselves? Can we create happier places to work? Or even happier societies?

  Jan 11 2012: I think there will always be a distribution of happiness - so many of the drivers are personal - we all have losses and truimphs ... it would seem extremely dull to not have these ups and downs ... but a happier society would remove systemic obstacles to our happiness ...

• A reply on Conversation: Can we really become happier? Happier ourselves? Can we create happier places to work? Or even happier societies?

  Jan 11 2012: I saw it last year - and to be honest I had forgotten I was in it! It took poor Roko so long to complete that it was 4/5 years that my interview happened - i looked so much younger on the screen (and no beard and long hair!) Loved the film though ... especially the old Japanese women!