# Human First

> Short, sourced evidence summaries on what helps people live well. Each page answers one question about human well-being, cites a source for every claim, labels interpretations separately from findings, and lists what the evidence does not show. Licence: CC BY 4.0.

## Evidence summaries

- [Social connection and how long we live](https://human-first-15q.pages.dev/s/social-connection-and-longevity/): Across 148 studies and about 309,000 people, those with stronger social relationships had 50% higher odds of survival over the study periods. The researchers judged the effect comparable to well-established risk factors for death.
- [Money and happiness: what an adversarial collaboration found](https://human-first-15q.pages.dev/s/money-and-happiness/): For most people, happiness keeps rising with income on a logarithmic scale, with no ceiling at $75,000. A leveling off appears only among the least happy people, and low income makes life's misfortunes hurt more.
- [Movement at any intensity and the risk of dying early](https://human-first-15q.pages.dev/s/movement-and-premature-death/): The WHO recommends 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity a week for adults  and stresses that some activity is better than none. Measured with movement sensors, even light activity is linked to a much lower risk of premature death.
- [How much sleep adults need](https://human-first-15q.pages.dev/s/how-much-sleep-adults-need/): The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society recommend that adults sleep 7 or more hours per night on a regular basis.
- [A sense of purpose and survival in later life](https://human-first-15q.pages.dev/s/purpose-in-life-and-mortality/): Among 6,985 US adults over 50, those with the lowest sense of purpose had 2.43 times the hazard of dying during the study period compared with those with the highest.
- [Losing work leaves a lasting mark](https://human-first-15q.pages.dev/s/unemployment-and-life-satisfaction/): In a 15-year study of more than 24,000 people in Germany, life satisfaction dropped sharply with unemployment and, on average, did not fully recover even after people found work again.
- [Why some countries are happier than others](https://human-first-15q.pages.dev/s/what-explains-national-happiness/): Six factors account for more than three quarters of the variation in national average life evaluations: having someone to count on, GDP per capita, healthy life expectancy, freedom to make life choices, generosity, and freedom from corruption.
- [Human dignity is unconditional](https://human-first-15q.pages.dev/s/human-dignity-is-unconditional/): The Universal Declaration of Human Rights opens by stating that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, and it applies those rights without distinction of any kind.
- [Keeping people in charge of consequential AI decisions](https://human-first-15q.pages.dev/s/humans-in-charge-of-ai-decisions/): EU law requires high-risk AI systems to be built so people can effectively oversee them, including the ability to override or stop them and to stay alert to automation bias. Research shows that bias is real: people tend to over-rely on automated advice.
- [Teens, screens and well-being: a small association, carefully measured](https://human-first-15q.pages.dev/s/teens-screens-and-wellbeing/): Across three large datasets covering 355,358 adolescents, technology use was negatively linked to well-being, but the link was small: it explained at most 0.4% of the variation.
- [Is loneliness bad for your health?](https://human-first-15q.pages.dev/s/is-loneliness-bad-for-your-health/): After adjusting for other factors, loneliness was linked to a 26% higher likelihood of death, social isolation to 29% and living alone to 32%. Feeling lonely and being objectively isolated carried similar risk.
- [Does exercise help depression?](https://human-first-15q.pages.dev/s/does-exercise-help-depression/): Across 218 randomised trials with 14,170 people, walking or jogging, yoga and strength training each produced moderate reductions in depression compared with control conditions. More intense exercise worked better.
- [Is time in green space good for your health?](https://human-first-15q.pages.dev/s/is-nature-good-for-your-health/): A review of 143 studies found that more exposure to green space was associated with lower stress hormone levels, lower heart rate and lower blood pressure, though many of the studies were of poor quality.

## Data

- [corpus.json](https://human-first-15q.pages.dev/data/corpus.json): all summaries, claims and sources
- [claims.jsonl](https://human-first-15q.pages.dev/data/claims.jsonl): one sourced claim per line
- [Editorial standards](https://human-first-15q.pages.dev/standards/)