Augmenting Human Compassion: A Conceptual Framework

Christine RosakranseRPI Master's Student - HCI

288 3rd St., Unit 215Oakland, CA

1-845-750-2189

rosakc@rpi.edu

ABSTRACTThis paper describes a framework for augmenting human compassion and the possible directions for research in this area with a focus on using interactive digital media.

Categories and Subject DescriptorsH.5.1 [Multimedia Information Systems]: Evaluation and methodology.

General TermsMeasurement, Documentation, Design, Experimentation, Human Factors, Standardization, Theory.

KeywordsCompassion augmentation, meta-mood, interactive digital media, interconnectivity.

1. INTRODUCTIONIn order to fully develop human potential, all resources available must be utilized to that end, including digital media. Licklider, Ashby, and Engelbart have all written on the subject of augmenting or amplifying human intellect [1]. Licklider (1960) defined a concept called “man-computer symbiosis”, a system whereby humans and computers work in conjunction to “think as no human brain has ever thought and process data in a way not approached by the information-handling machines we know today”[2]. Engelbart believed technology could augment human intellect by developing “an integrated hierarchy of cooperative mancomputer process capabilities.” This would “step-up” the mental abilities of a person level by level to be able to handle more complex thought processes. He also explains that, “We refer to a way of life in an integrated domain where hunches, cut-and-try, intangibles, and the human ‘feel for a situation’ usefully coexist with powerful concepts, streamlined technologies and notation, sophisticated methods, and high-powered electronic aids”[1].

While some research and development in this field has discovered methods for augmenting human intelligence as per the recommendation and work of these visionaries, another facet of our potential has been left behind due to a lack of clear and concise quantifiable representation. This particular facet comes in the form of developing compassion. As technology improves and we find ourselves more capable of complex problem solving when working in conjunction with these technologies, the emotional side of our development must also be addressed. Along with

amplifying intelligence, we must become a more socially responsible people. Luckily, the plasticity of our mental architecture makes this a distinct, if not also necessary, possibility in human evolution.

While it was historically seen as the realm of parents and family (in society at large) to instill compassion and empathy, several proponents have come to the fore regarding compassion augmentation including the Dalai Lama, Lappé, and Ekman [3].

In starting the search for methods that augment human compassion using digital means, many avenues present themselves.

2. DEVELOPING A FRAMEWORK2.1 LexiconThe definition of compassion in our modern lexicon remains nebulous within the context of social interaction. Whether it is an emotion, sentiment, or feeling has not yet been concretely determined. Compassion requires a more stringent classification to include elements of behavior that compose compassion and scientific methods for measurement.

In order to fully appreciate the nature and magnitude of these possibilities, we must borrow from the lexicon of quantum physics as well as the fields of mathematics, specifically complex dynamics, and chemistry to allow for a more robust set of terms to describe intelligence and compassion augmentation. The initial step of determining terminology is key because any further study would require a sound grounding in what factors effect compassion levels and how they do so. Within the context of interactive digital media, these factors may be counter-intuitive or may include non-trivial emergent properties. Having a more exact vocabulary would undermine semantic ambiguity.

Some of the difficulty in soundly defining the concepts relevant to compassion augmentation stems from the family-only approach normally taken for the development of compassion in a child’s life. It is often seen as the responsibility of parents and families to engender this value. Beyond childhood, only societal norms act to regulate compassion. The exact nature of compassion is also nebulous enough within our society as a whole to defy easy definition. Definitions for compassion describe a semantic range of possibilities including awareness (purely knowledge), an emotion, or a feeling. Examples where the ambiguous language is most obvious include the chapter on The Nature of Compassion in the book Emotional Awareness, which is a conversation between the Dalai Lama and Paul Ekman[3].

As Ekman and the Dalai Lama discuss how compassion may or may not be considered an emotion, the Dalai Lama explains, “Once the person experiences this heightened compassion, his or her compassion retains that kind of tone throughout the day...” Ekman argues against this by explaining that moods are transitory and, therefore, compassion cannot be a mood or emotion. However, taking the neurological definition of mood and emotion into account, one could argue that a new term is required for defining compassion in the sense of a long-term component of one’s mental state.

One term that is used colloquially that comes to mind is nature. However, nature has the connotation of being unchangeable and fixed. For now, the term meta-mood will be used to describe compassion, in that it is a sustained perceptual filter that governs the overall level of compassion of an individual as well as the level of spontaneity and unbiasedness related to prosocial actions (kindness, sympathy, etc.). This definition is further explained in section 3.1.3. In a similar lexical vein, creating a meta-mood involves lowering the activation energy for a compassionate state.

Key ideas for further development include the following:

What is compassion? Defined as meta-mood.

Creation thereof lowers the activation energy required for prosocial behavior.

Emergent phenomena reveals multiple sources of influence for this creation.

Additionally, compassion augmentation represents a form of “cognitive hybridization.” As defined by Andy Clark, “Some technologies constitute a cascade of mindware upgrades - cognitive upheavals in which the effective architecture on the human mind is altered and transformed” [4].

2.2 Theoretical GroundingUsing the precedents set by Emotional Design, as it has begun to see an upswing as a mainstream approach by realizing that emotion does play a role in interaction, and Value-sensitive Design, which also adds weight to the implications of interface design, a Grounded Theory Approach with selective coding is suggested for the initial development of this research framework.

Following the format for research performed to augment human intellect, the objective of this study, which includes the previous suppositions and conjectures, is as follows: (1) to discover the factors that determine a given individual’s level of compassion; and (2) to develop methods that would act to augment human compassion. Prosocial behavior then becomes the “evidence” of a compassionate state.

In this specific case, the use of interactive digital media may provide an example for further study. With this approach we can use observational analysis to create conceptual categories to define types of interaction with digital media as a first step to gradually refine and reevaluate these connections in a more formalized research setting.

The elements of engagement can be placed into the following categories:

1) perceptual/cognitive

2) physiological

3) conscious or reflective interaction

4) emergent/transcendent

Then with these categories of engagement in place, testing the level of interaction versus the level of change or augmentation in compassion becomes a matter of defining sound methodologies for measuring this state or meta-mood in a quantifiable manner.

Figure 1. Compassion can also be seen as the result of care and connectedness

Even with this grounding, there is still a gulf between science and the humanities in terms of determining what components of a human’s behavior can be effected by technology. However, the overall process under review would be the following:

1) Exposure to stimulus (classified by valence and type of interaction)

2) Cognitive processing (conscious, subconscious, unconscious)

3) Change to level of compassion (as a meta-mood, includes the change to the activation energy required to enter a compassionate state)

4) Resultant action (prosocial behavior, including degree of spontaneity and unbiasedness)

3. LITERATURE REVIEW3.1 General ApproachesReviewing current research into related topics, including developing empathy in children, compassion meditation studies, and compassion fatigue psychometric testing, has revealed three general approaches to testing for elements of the meta-mood compassion.

3.1.1 Cognitive/Physiological AnalysisBrave and Nass have indicated that the level of activity in the limbic and cortical regions of the brain relate to an individual’s empathic responses [2]. In their work, Brave and Nass reveal the underlying mechanisms of emotion with a figure that demonstrates the connections between the thalamus, the cortex, and the limbic system. The thalamic-limbic pathway is responsible for the primary emotions, while secondary emotions “result from activation of the limbic system by processing in the cortex.”

They then go on to cover the debate over whether or not emotion is innate or learned. Regarding this debate, Brave and Nass describe the middle of the two extremes where “the limbic system is prewired to recognize the basic categories of emotion, but social learning and higher cortical processes still play a significant role in differentiation.”.

The experiment in the article entitled Regulation of the Neural Circuitry of Emotion by Compassion Meditation: Effects of Meditative Expertise used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure differences in brain activity between novice and experienced meditators, those having 10,000 plus hours of Buddhist compassion mediation practice [5]. This paper identifies activity in the limbic region associated with increased levels of compassion in buddhist monks with over 10,000 hours of compassion meditation practice. They were asked two alternate between actively generating a condition of compassion mediation and refraining from the practice.

In this case:

“The meditative practice studied here involves the generation of a state in which an “unconditional feeling of loving-kindness and compassion pervades the whole mind as a way of being, with no other consideration, or discursive thoughts” ... According to the tradition, as a result of this practice, feelings and actions for the benefit of others arise more readily when relevant situations arise. Our main hypothesis was thus that the concern for others cultivated during this meditation would enhance the affective responses to emotional human vocalizations, in particular to negative ones, and that this affective response would be modulated by the degree of meditation training.”

They analyzed the areas of the brain associated with empathy including the insula cortex and the somatosensory cortex. The data support their main hypothesis, namely that “the brain regions underlying emotions and feelings are modulated in response to emotional sounds as a function of the state of compassion, the valence of the emotional sounds and the degree of expertise”[5].

One interesting way to see these results is to acknowledge that the meditation itself, over time, changes the neurology of the practitioner in such a way that the empathy and compassion become more automatic and spontaneous. In the section on Effects of Affect: Attention, Brave and Nass state, “people also often consciously regulate mood, selecting and attending to stimuli that sustain desired moods or, alternatively, counteract undesired moods” [6]. This might prove to be insightful for informing experimental design by suggesting the role of intention and prolonged exposure to compassion-based stimuli.

Compassion meditation would then put people in a more sustained compassionate mood. I say mood because it seems to fit the definition better than emotion. “Moods...are nonintentional; they are not directed at any object in particular and are thus experienced as more diffuse, global, and general.” This would seem to be the case with long-term practitioners of compassion mediation. It becomes a “way of being.”

Brave and Nass support this by saying, “Intense or repetitive emotional experiences tend to prolong themselves into moods”[6]. The Lutz, Johnstone and Davidson study used fMRI results to measure affect, but Brave and Nass also suggest other methods for doing so, including electroencephalogram (EEG) to test neurological responses, autonomic activity, facial expression, voice, self-report measures, and affect recognition by users.

Depending on the conditions of the study, these methods for testing affect differ in efficacy. The Compassion Mediation study did not use behavioral analysis during the testing because the meditators informed them that this would interfere with the meditation process itself. So they has to rely on the fMRI

measurements and a certain amount of self-reporting. Self-report measures, in particular, suffer from a problem with temporal relevance. Brave and Nass point out that “questionnaires are capable of measuring only the conscious experience of emotion and mood. Much of affective processing, however, resides in the limbic system and in nonconscious processes.”

The dimensional theories using arousal and valence were also used during the Compassion Mediation study and with correlational results. This would support that for further research, where any self-reporting is necessary, compassion should be tested as a mood emergent from a two-dimensional space of “conscious emotional experience” [7]. The key lies in consistent intention and progression.

3.1.2 Behavioral AnalysisSeveral studies have tested subjects by utilizing behavioral analysis to reveal the presence or levels of compassion. The question of whether or not empathy is, as related to compassion, hard-wired into the brain has been tested. Frans de Waal also writes about kindness from the evolutionary perspective [8].

Another experiment with more direct human relevance discovered that when participants were given money to use, giving the money away to another person made themfeel more satisfied and happy than using it for their own personal consumption[9]. Whether or not altruism directly relates to compassion or can be seen as a resultant action of a compassionate state would also have to be further studied.

Testing within a school setting has also provided some concrete evidence of the effectiveness of teaching children empathy and compassion. The Second Step Program by the Committee for Children in Seattle teaches children empathy and measure success with lower reported incidents of bullying and school violence [10].

3.1.3 Psychometric (Self-reporting) MeasuresIn developing a test for compassion so that quantitative results can verify any changes over time, several parallel types of testing present themselves as possibilities. The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) as a test for mood could provide the basis for determining the type of affect that the digital interactive media has on the subject while an additional compassion test would be necessary to correlate that affect with a change in temperament equivalent to compassion development [11].

Additionally, one method used to discover compassion in nurses is a compassion fatigue test developed for caregivers. This might prove useful as a before and after test to determine change in overall mentality[12].

4. GOALS AND FURTHER RESEARCHAs technology becomes more advanced, allowing for actual intellectual “amplification”, we must counter this with the augmentation of compassion as well in order to balance out the human equation. As it is now understood that certain emergent phenomena occur within the brain as well as effecting the outside world, we may expect to find a terrific potential for growth and mental evolution at the intersection of intellect and compassion.

One specific arena for further research involves the incorporation of interactive digital media into the compassion augmentation process. The nexus of science and art has always been a fascinating space for conjecture, but, as the sphere of science grows to include room for what once seemed to be purely

metaphysical concerns, the research is finding ways to ground the effects of arts in a scientifically meaningful vocabulary. The process, however, has just begun.

4.1 Interactive Digital Art as Co-creationThe theory that art can effect the human mind has long been held by artists. The connection between digital interactive art, improving a user’s level of empathy, and reducing stress has been made by artists such as Barbara Buckner in her article “Healing Interactions and Interactive Digital Art” [13].

In combination with the standard forms of creative expression, current technology allows for the addition of interactivity and may lead to a feeling of interconnectivity with the artist or others as represented by the project. In the words of Barbara Buckner, “the user becomes cause in the scenario...The user builds an iterative cycle of aesthetic relationships, and through this cycle of perception and co-creation, fulfills the meaning of the work.” It is this aspect of interactive digital art that would parallel the intentional facet of compassion augmentation by other means, including meditation. “The user is accepting responsibility for co-creating unity through cause and effect.”

As opposed to passive forms of artistic exposure, having the user become participant introduces them to the themes inherent in the artwork, such as harmony and integration, as a creator.

Additionally, if a disconnect from a common humanity lessens compassion or hinders its development, then key to developing compassion in others would be creating a palpable connection to others and, thereby, to humanity in general. With interactive digital art, the user changes from passive receptor of information to co-creator, completing a cycle of connection and creating a subsequent positive association.

Several additional terms can be introduced at this point:

The amount someone can interact with a piece is agency.

Affordance is the quality that allows someone to perform an action.

4.2 Immersive Interactive SpacesWhether in an interactive digital environment such as Second Life or an immersive “real-world” environment such as a multimedia museum exhibit, the nature of the interaction may prove vital to compassion augmentation and this should also be taken into account during the framework development process.

There are several communities in Second Life already devoted to teaching in new ways specifically designed for an immersive online experience. The London Knowledge Lab, Institute of Education, University of London, ran a research project entitled Learning from Online Worlds; Teaching In Second Life where they taught sessions within that context [14]. The viability of such an approach is increasingly proven by such experiments, especially as matters such as presence, trust, reciprocity, and goal-oriented learning are imbued within the system.

4.3 Extending the FrameworkAdditional elements and questions can be added in order to develop a more robust version of compassion augmentation. The last component may involve questions from the ABE (Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence) as this approach may also prove relevant to the investigation [15]. In their research, Peterson and Seligman find ways to measure if a “person feeling oneness with the universe, a sense of truth, an inability to express

experience in mere words, and a vividness and clarity of sensations and perceptions.”

One of the personality characteristics that correspond with an appreciation of beauty includes an openness to new experiences. This also provides another direction for continuing research.

With our current approach we will use observational analysis to create conceptual categories to define types of interaction with digital media as a first step to gradually refine and reevaluate these connections in a more formalized research setting. Future research includes testing the change in levels of compassion of those exposed to interactive digital media over time (designed with the results from this research in mind). We will also be able to research whether or not having a reflective component is necessary and whether or not effect is an issue of intensity versus duration.

5. CONCLUSIONWe, as humans, have the choice to use our emotions, sentiments, and moods in order to modify our behavior. In their work, Brave and Nass reveal the underlying mechanisms of emotion by explaining the connections between the thalamus, the cortex, and the limbic system.

The thalamic-limbic pathway is responsible for the primary emotions, while secondary emotions “result from activation of the limbic system by processing in the cortex.” Debate still exists over whether or not emotion is innate or learned. For the purposes of conceptualizing a framework, the mechanism behind the meta-mood compassion will be understood as malleable due to the plastic nature of our mental architecture.

Regarding the ability to develop compassion by entering meditative states, the experiment in the article entitled Regulation of the Neural Circuitry of Emotion by Compassion Meditation: Effects of Meditative Expertise used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure differences in brain activity between novice and experienced meditators, those having 10,000 plus hours of Buddhist compassion mediation practice. Conclusions can be drawn from this they may inform the design of compassion augmentation systems.

The time has arrived for compassion augmentation and, in this digital age, with our astounding level of interconnectivity, the opportunity to utilize technology for this purpose cannot go unrealized. Augmenting human intellect as a theory and aspiration has itself been itself further augmented to suggest that all facets of society must come together and work towards a common goal. Creating a framework for future compassion augmentation research the first step. In order to balance the human equation, prosocial behavior promoted by the meta-mood compassion should be placed alongside intelligence in our search for augmentation. With a sound lexicon for development and concrete designs for analysis, the path to augmenting human compassion is now more clearly defined.

6. ACKNOWLEDGMENTSMy thanks Professors Nathan Freier and Jim Zappen for their support and review. Also, thanks to Christina Engelbart for her eye-opening correspondence.

7. REFERENCES[1] Engelbart, Douglas C. 1962. Augmenting Human Intellect: A

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[3] Ekman, Paul, ed. (2008) Emotional Awareness: overcoming the obstacles to psychological balance and compassion: a conversation between the Dalai Lama and Paul Ekman. Henry Holt and Company: New York. Pgs. 139-184.

[4] Clark, Andy “Natural-Born Cyborgs?” (2003), The New Humanists: science at the edge, (A Barnes and Noble Book: New York). (pgs. 67-78). ed. John Brockman.

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[7] Peterson, C., & Seligman M. E. P. 2003. Values in action classification of strength. Retrieved November 5, 2009, from http://www.ppc.sas.upenn.edu/viamanualintro.pdf

[8] Phillips, Adam and Barbara Taylor. 2009. On Kindness. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

[9] Lappé, Frances Moore. Living Democracy, Feeding Hope. First Aired: 5/11/2009, 59 minutes. http://uctv.tv/search-details.aspx?showID=16447

[10] In a school setting, behavioral analysis in the form of reported measures: http://www.cfchildren.org/programs/ssp/overview/

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[12] http://www.compassionfatigue.org/pages/CompassionFatigue SelfTest.html

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[15] Carr, D. Oliver, M., Burn, A. (in press 2010) ’Learning, Teaching and Ambiguity in Virtual Worlds’, in Researching Learning in Virtual Worlds. Peachey, A, Gillen, J, Livingstone, D, Smith-Robbins, S. (eds) UK : Springer