neophilia

/nee`ohfil'ee@/ , n. The trait of being excited and pleased by novelty.
Common among most hackers, SF fans, and members of several other connected
leading-edge subcultures, including the pro-technology Whole Earth wing of
the ecology movement, space activists, many members of Mensa, and the
Discordian/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 , and oriental food. The opposite
tendency is neophobia.

