Neophile

This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Find sources: "Neophile" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2008)

Neophile or Neophiliac, a term popularised by cult writer Robert Anton Wilson, is a personality type characterized by a strong affinity for novelty. The term was used earlier by Christopher Booker in his book The Neophiliacs (1969), and by J. D. Salinger in his short story Hapworth 16, 1924 (1965).

Characteristics

Neophiles/Neophiliacs have the following basic characteristics:

• The ability to adapt rapidly to extreme change.
• A distaste or downright loathing of routine.
• A desire to experience novelty.
• A corresponding and related desire to create novelty.

A neophile is distinct from a revolutionary in that anyone might become a revolutionary if pushed far enough by the reigning authorities or social norms, whereas neophiles are revolutionaries by nature. Their intellectual abhorrence of tradition and repetition usually bemoans a deeper emotional need for constant novelty and change. The meaning of neophile approaches and is not mutually exclusive to the term visionary, but differs in that a neophile actively seeks first-hand experience of novelty rather than merely pontificating about it.

The opposite of a neophile is a

The trait of being excited and pleased by novelty. Common among most hackers,

neo-pagan underground (see geek). All these groups overlap heavily and (where evidence is available) seem to share characteristic hacker tropisms for science fiction, music

.

Research has uncovered a possible link between certain predisposition to some kind of neophilia and increased levels of the enzyme monoamine oxidase A.^[1]

See also

• Fad
• Technophilia
• Technophobia
• Futurism
• Novelty seeking
• Low arousal theory

References