Compassion Augmentation Manifesto Intro

Manifesto Intro:

While compassion may or may not be our “natural” attitude towards others according to differing traditions, it can be noted that societal constructs, on the whole, do not necessarily support compassionate behavior, favoring instead a market/perceived worth-based social structure. Compassion, however, can be promoted and developed within an individual’s mental architecture through various means.

In regards to certain academic traditions, these particular means can go by other names such as “facts”, in the context of Lewin’s field theory. Those “facts” which are capable of changing a person’s mental state towards a more stable meta-mood of compassion have not yet been fully explored.

Within the realm of developing technologies and interactive digital media specifically, those factors regarding interaction, user experience design, content, context, intimacy, and empathy are of special interest.

The complex nature of multi-faceted interaction towards compassion augmentation provides an exciting milieu for further exploration and study.

It is the responsibility of artists/engineers/scientists to develop and reinvest knowledge continually within an iterative process towards the augmentation of the human intellect as well as towards the augmentation of compassion, as the two act to balance human evolution towards a sustainable future.