Ever since I can remember, I have always sought out unique experiences in each of my favourite methods of consumption, or in other words, I have a massive boner for novelty. Hi guys, my name is Eric Thorfinnson, and I am a Neophiliac.
"Neophiliac, a term popularised by cult writer Robert Anton Wilson, is a personality type characterized by a strong affinity for novelty- Wikipedia"
This trait manifests itself in myriad ways throughout my day-to-day existence. I’ll generally gravitate to the weirdest combination of hard-to-pronounce foods at any restaurant, rather than choose something familiar that I know I’ll enjoy. I’ll almost always choose a drink that seems unfamiliar rather than a solid standby, and most importantly for my life, I always gravitate towards music that is genre-bending and totally unique.
Ever since I became aware of this trait in myself, I’ve concocted a number of explanations/ruminations about the topic, ranging from plausibly helpful to convincingly neurotic. As far as music goes, I’ve told myself for a long time that the more unique a someone’s music is, the more “authentic” it is (though this is a totally fraught term). Now of course my tastes are subjective and I’d never accuse anyone who loves exclusively mainstream pop music of feeling a lesser quality emotional resonance with any top-40 bubblegum banger, but for me this has become a kind of internal feedback loop that satisfies my artistic cravings with great quality, albeit at the expense of quantity. Despite the satisfaction I’ve derived from this, I sometimes on lesser days find myself in an inwardly accusatory mood, and tend to describe this trait as just an endless tallying up of meaninglessly different experiences, none being of higher quality than any other. I’ll then accuse my affinity with unique musicians as just an unhealthy obsession with over-inflated egos. But perhaps the truth lies somewhere in between these two extremes.
pictured:my craft beer neophiliac's closet
I’ve recently become very interested in evolutionary psychology and figure that this trait has to have some basis in genetics or at least be common enough that it has generated some interesting literature. I’ve found a few things but haven’t read too deeply into it but have found a few interesting tidbits. A lot of studies seem to connect extreme neophilia to addictive behaviour and dangerous risk seeking. I can certainly see how this model would make sense, but I don’t think that my neophilia manifests itself in those traits (at least not quite as much as it used to hehehe).
Others seem to say that Neophilia in moderation is actually very positive trait.
In a recent New York Times article, C. Robert Cloninger is quoted as saying “Novelty-seeking is one of the traits that keeps you healthy and happy and fosters personality growth as you age,”. They then connect it to traits such as persistence and self transcendence (which is connected to people achieving flow states). I think I also certainly exhibit a huge degree of persistence, and self-transcendence when I can manage it.
Another Interesting aspect of the study of Neophilia is how it relates to immigration. It has been hypothesized that over history groups have sought out new areas to inhabit out of a desire not just for survival, but on a gamble that a new environment may provide new rewards, which certainly seems plausible. This was then connected to the idea that North America is a continent of immigrants, which could go some distance to explaining our collective obsession with all things new and unique.
Anyways, I’d love to hear if anyone has a similar trait or more thoughts along this line!
