“For decades, I have been exploring how to live a rich and meaningful life while participating in both the Fast World and the Slow World — in the fast-paced, crazy-busy, information-intensive world that has become the norm for many of us, and in the slower-paced, calmer world that we sometimes touch in moments of quiet contemplation.”

David M. Levy, “Mindful Tech”

David M. Levy is a professor in the Information School of the University of Washington in Seattle. He earned his PhD in computer science at Stanford University and a diploma in calligraphy and bookbinding from the Roehampton Institute in London. For nearly twenty years he was a researcher at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, exploring the transition from paper and print to digital media. At the University of Washington since 2000, he investigates how individuals can live healthy, creative, reflective, and productive lives in an always-on, information-saturated world. He is the author of Mindful Tech: How to Bring Balance to Our Digital Lives (2016) and Scrolling Forward: Making Sense of Documents in the Digital Age (2001, new ed. 2016).

Writings

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Mindful Tech

Based on David Levy’s research and teaching at the University of Washington, Mindful Tech gives readers — in the workplace, in the classroom, and in the privacy of their own homes — a set of tools to help them establish a healthier and more effective relationship with their digital devices and apps.

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Scrolling Forward

First published in 2001 and re-issued in a new edition in 2016, Scrolling Forward offers readers an understanding of the crucial role that documents — written forms of all kinds — play in the creation of a stable and meaningful world.

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Other writings & presentations

A selection of articles written and presentations given over the past several decades. Topics include the nature of written forms, the loss of time to think, and the place of contemplation in an accelerating, overloaded world.

Lectures & Workshops

David regularly gives lectures and leads workshops within the US and abroad. More information is available here.