Workshop on Mindful Work and Technology

这笔资金用于部分支持一个约19人参加的讲习班，主要是根据他们在计算机和信息科学或社会科学(重点是工作组织和实践)或正念练习和冥想艺术方面的专长，探讨过去几十年来新信息技术改变了人们的工作方式所产生的问题。电子邮件、手机和万维网等创新使人们能够全天候、远距离地开展工作。但伴随着这些非同寻常的机遇，也带来了一系列意想不到的后果。海量信息的便捷获取导致了一种无处不在的超载感。多种通信设备和信息来源的存在助长了一种中断的工作作风，这种作风往往威胁到注意力的集中。而且，快速沟通和采取行动的可能性鼓励了工作实践和期望的加速，这让人感觉不可持续，有时甚至适得其反。但是，做得更快并不一定意味着做得更好。人们越来越担心，当今以跨多个信息源和设备进行多任务为特征的主导工作模式正在降低工作结果的质量，以及工人在工作过程中的满意度。越来越多的证据表明，工作压力正在导致一系列健康问题，包括心脏病发作、中风、焦虑和抑郁。怎样才能减轻工作压力，提高工作质量和对工作完成的满意度？这次研讨会的重点是制定一项研究议程，以开发能够以平静和信息丰富的方式吸引人类注意力的技术，并创造鼓励和支持专注、多产和健康工作的工作场所。要解决的问题包括：如何设计计算机系统(硬件和软件)以鼓励放松注意力？如何重新设计计算机屏幕和界面，以考虑到人们更充分的人性，包括他们的化身？更全面的办公实践和程序可能是什么样子的？如何重新设计工作空间的建筑、家具、声音和光线，以鼓励专注的存在？该讲习班是2004年5月在西雅图由麦克阿瑟基金会和国家科学基金会资助举办的信息、沉默和庇护所讲习班的后续活动。预计麦克阿瑟基金会、华盛顿大学和国会图书馆将为本次活动提供更多资金/支持。广泛影响：国际和平协会的目标是提高公众对研讨会主题的认识，并鼓励对这些主题的广泛讨论。为此目的，他将撰写一份报告，总结讲习班的情况介绍及其主要结论，并将除了以信誉良好的传播工具发表外，还将在网上提供。研讨会将于2006年3月中旬在华盛顿特区举行，为期五天。在讲习班结束时，将邀请新闻界参加国会图书馆的一个公共方案，其中将包括关于讲习班主题的陈述和一些与会者的小组讨论。

This is funding to partially support a workshop of about 19 participants, invited mainly on the basis of their expertise in computer and information science or the social sciences (with a focus on work organization and practice) or mindfulness practices and the contemplative arts, to explore problems as a consequence of the manner in which new information technologies have over the past several decades transformed the way people work. E-mail, cell phones, and the World Wide Web, among other innovations, have made it possible to conduct work at vast distances and at all hours of the day and night. But with these remarkable opportunities has also come a range of unintended consequences. The easy availability of vast amounts of information has led to a pervasive sense of overload. The presence of multiple communication devices and information sources has fostered an interrupted style of working that often threatens concentration. And the possibility of communicating and acting quickly has encouraged a speedup in work practices and expectations that feels unsustainable and at times counterproductive. But doing more faster doesn't necessarily mean doing it better. There is growing concern that today's dominant mode of working, which features multi-tasking across multiple information sources and devices, is degrading the quality of work results, as well as workers' satisfaction in the process. And there is mounting evidence that work stress is contributing to a range of health problems, including heart attack, stroke, anxiety, and depression. What can be done to reduce work stress, and to increase the quality of work and the satisfaction in its accomplishment? This workshop will focus on developing a research agenda that can lead to the development of technologies that engage human attention in calm and informative ways, and the creation of workplaces that encourage and support mindful, productive, and healthful work. Questions to be addressed will include: How can computer systems (both hardware and software) be designed to encourage relaxed attention? How might computer screens and interfaces be redesigned to take account of people's fuller humanity, including their embodiment? What might more fully-embodied office practices and procedures look like? How might workspace architecture, furniture, sound and light be redesigned to encourage mindful presence? This workshop constitutes a follow-on to the Workshop on Information, Silence, and Sanctuary which was organized by the PI in Seattle in May, 2004 with funding from the MacArthur Foundation and NSF. Additional funding/support for the current event is anticipated from the MacArthur Foundation, the University of Washington, and the Library of Congress.Broader Impacts: The PI's goal is to raise public awareness of the workshop topics and to stimulate broad discussion of them. To these ends, he will write a report summarizing the workshop presentations and its major findings, and will make it available online in addition to publishing it in a reputable vehicles of dissemination. The workshop will take place over five days in the Washington DC area in mid-March, 2006. At the conclusion of the workshop, a public program at the Library of Congress to which the press will be invited will include a presentation on the topic of the workshop and a panel discussion among some of the participants.