It just might be time to give neophiliacs their due. Neophiliacs are novelty seekers (an estimated 15% of us qualify) and, despite their reputation for risky and antisocial behavior, a new book urges us to start celebrating neophiliacs on two counts: 1. Their contribution to society; and 2. Their ability to navigate their lives (neophobes, by the way, are their polar opposite – those who adamantly resist change).
The book is “New: Understanding Our Need for Novelty and Change” and author and behavioral scientist Winifred Gallagher touches on the role of neophiliac in society. Quoted in a New York Times article, authored by John Tierney, she explained: “. . . a population’s survival is enhanced by some adventurers who explore for new resources and worriers who are attuned to the risks involved.” Gallagher added: “Nothing reveals your personality more succinctly than your characteristic emotional reaction to novelty and change over time and across many situations.”
Gallagher’s exhaustive analysis was driven, no doubt, by today’s information explosion. Witness these revealing stats:
· “We now consume about 100,000 words each day from various media, which is a whopping 350 percent increase, measured in bytes, over what we handled back in 1980,” said Gallagher, as quoted in the New York Times piece;
· Research now proves we can process only a little information at a time, or about 173 billion bits over an average life; and
· By some estimates, the urge for novelty drops by half between the ages of 20 and 60.
Neophilia is also linked to well-being, according to psychiatrist C. Robert Cloninger, who was quoted in that same New York Times article: “Novelty-seeking is one of the traits that keeps you healthy and happy and fosters personality growth as you age. . . . It can lead to antisocial behavior . . . but if you combine this adventurousness and curiosity with persistence and a sense that it’s not all about you, then you get the kind of creativity that benefits society as a whole.” (author’s note: more about curiosity, and its importance as a skill, in an upcoming blog entry)
For decades, Cloninger, a professor of psychiatry and genetics at Washington University in St. Louis, has examined the personality characteristics that contribute to well-being, and he has identified three salient traits: novelty-seeking, persistence and self-transcendence. Quoted in that same New York Times article, Cloninger explained the third trait: “[Self-transcendence is] the capacity to get lost in the moment doing what you love to do, to feel a connection to nature and humanity and the universe.” He added: “It’s sometimes found in disorganized people who are immature and do a lot of wishful thinking and daydreaming, but when it’s combined with persistence and novelty-seeking, it leads to personal growth and enables you to balance your needs with those of the people around you.”
Are you a neophiliac or a neophobe? To find out, try this quiz (I just did . . . ).
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