neophilia /nee`oh-fil'-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. 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'.