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We are devising slogan for political movement that focuses on 3 groups. The first two groups already have their names as "greens" and "social-democrats" but we are seeking the name for the third group. This group includes passionate people about science, technology, about technology as solution for almost every problem, especially for alleviating poverty and creating welfare, about robotics and automation, about artificial intelligence, about 4th industrial revolutions.

"Geeks", "nerds" are bad candidate words because they do not reflect the activity and fairness and social democratic causes. "Futurists" has an ambiguous meaning and it does not reflect the immediate technologies available. "Technocrats" is bad word too. "Techno-progressives" is a double word and is therefore bad for the slogan.

What is a good 3rd word for this movement?

Regarding the use of the mentioned 3rd word: sentence is "[Party Name] Social democrats. Greens. ???". This slogan is intended for the use on almost any party documentation, adverts and so on. That is why the 3rd word should be as clear, as simply-understandable, as the "social democrats" and "greens". Neologism is acceptable if it easily creates associations. Answers so far provide words that is hardly understandable by the simple voters.

Currently I am thinking about 2 options "humanists+" and "tech-optimists" (exactly this simpler form). But my gut feeling is that something more is desired.

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    Hi TomR, welcome to English Language & Usage. You might not be aware that there are strict rules for single-word-requests: "To ensure your question is not closed as off-topic, please be specific about the intended use of the word. You must include a sample sentence demonstrating how the word would be used." You can add this using the edit link. For further guidance, see How to Ask, and make sure you also take the Tour :-) – Chappo Hasn't Forgotten Monica Nov 25 '18 at 1:35
  • . . Technocrat . . – Carly Nov 25 '18 at 12:31
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    I think you need to rethink your question and edit it accordingly. You say: Neologism is acceptable if it easily creates associations. With that, this question becomes arbitrary: "Make up a word for me" isn't a great question for here. You also reject answers without saying why other than it's your gut feeling, which should be expanded upon to help you get a better answer. – tmgr Nov 25 '18 at 19:00
  • ...You also say: Answers so far provide words that is hardly understandable by the simple voters. With respect, it's apparent that English isn't your first language and that you are not in a position to judge that, at least with regard to what native English speakers would find readily understandable. However, it's possible native speakers of English are not your target readers - if so, you should make this clear. – tmgr Nov 25 '18 at 19:02
  • Slogan writing is a profession. I suggest: poly-technos or polytechnos or even: poli-tekne. – Lambie Nov 25 '18 at 22:22
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techno-utopian

From Wikipedia:

Technological utopianism (often called techno-utopianism or technoutopianism) is any ideology based on the premise that advances in science and technology could and should bring about a utopia, or at least help to fulfill one or another utopian ideal.

Hence, to refer to a person who ascribes to such a belief system: technological utopian or techno-utopian, with or without the hyphen - personally I prefer it with, as it is easier to read properly.1 (Utopianist2 also exists as an alternative to utopian and could also be used, if you preferred.)

Techno-utopian is quite a new word and the only dictionary I can find that specifically carries it is Wiktionary, which has it both with and without the hyphen:

Adjective

techno-utopian (comparative more techno-utopian, superlative most techno-utopian)

Believing that technological advances will create a utopia.

Noun

techno-utopian (plural techno-utopians)

A person of techno-utopian beliefs.

Despite the lack of dictionary entries, the word can easily be found in journalism, and is both well-established and readily understandable from its constituent parts for those to whom it is new:

The Singularity of Fools: A special report from the utopian future

Foreign Policy, David Rieff, April 29 2013

...

If utopia has always been a kind of escape clause from the human condition, contemporary techno-utopianism represents a radical upping of the ante. For entrepreneur Peter Diamandis, creator of the X Prize to spur the development of passenger-carrying private spaceships and other innovations, not only will technology make it so that "during our lifetime … we’re moving off this planet," but it will solve even the gravest problems that confront humanity — climate change, species extinction, water and energy shortages.

...

Don’t Believe the Techno-Utopian Hype

Newsweek, Niall Ferguson, 30 July 2012

Are you a technoptimist or a depressimist? This is the question I have been pondering after a weekend hanging with some of the superstars of Silicon Valley. I had never previously appreciated the immense gap that now exists between technological optimism, on the one hand, and economic pessimism, on the other. Silicon Valley sees a bright and beautiful future ahead. Wall Street and Washington see only storm clouds. The geeks think we’re on the verge of The Singularity. The wonks retort that we’re in the middle of a Depression.

...

technoptimist

The above Newsweek article also uses technoptimist with more or less the same meaning as techno-utopian. It hasn't made it into any dictionaries yet (or, at least, I couldn't find it).

Technoptimist is definitely in use, and isn't just a semi-witty nonce word coined by a journalist.

For instance, we can find the term in use in an interview on Quartz with a tech-enthusiastic doctor:

Bob Wachter, a physician and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, has championed the use of technology in hospital care. And, yet, he has seen time and again that the problem lies mainly in the implementation of technology.

where the accompanying picture of the interview subject is captioned:

The technoptimist doctor.

An article on the website of Oxford Insights, a consultation firm that provides tech implementation advice to the public sector, uses technoptimist in contrast to technoskeptic - opposite poles on a spectrum of opinion:

AI and legitimacy: government in the age of the machine

...

The truth of the effects of AI on societies is likely somewhere between the “technoskeptic” and the “technoptimist” predictions. Regardless of where one falls on the scale, the adoption of artificial intelligence by government raises important questions about government legitimacy.

(Depressimist seems to be the term that technoptimist is usually contrasted with, as indeed it was in the Newsweek article. While depressimist has the questionable merit of being a portmanteau word formed similarly to technoptimist, it isn't as specific or as easy to understand as technoskeptic, especially without having technoptimist to clarify the meaning in context.)

The word technoptimist seems to be most often used in people's self-describing self-promoting blurbs; I am reluctant to link to even one of them but it is trivial to find examples with any reasonable search engine.

Alternative forms, techno-optimist and tech-optimist (with and without the hyphen), can also be found, as can the full forms, technology optimist and technological optimist.

In a Huffington Post article entitled "Why Techno-Optimism Is Dangerous" from July 2016, we can see the following example:

This general view about technological progress has been endorsed by thinkers including Matt Ridley, David Deutsch, K. Eric Drexler and Peter Diamandis. These techno-optimists do acknowledge dangers. But they find reassurance in a dependable habit of technological progress to clean up after itself.

Simlarly, there is a blog post on DXC.technology with the title "Why I’m a tech optimist".

Technology optimist can be found, for example, in this article on the LinkedIn platform entitled "Why I’m a technology optimist – and you should be too".

We can find technological optimism in the linked article on Big Think called "5 Reasons for Technological Optimism".

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  • Note that the original question was modified to include tech-optimist as a suggestion after this answer was posted. – tmgr Nov 25 '18 at 13:55
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technophile ˈtɛknə(ʊ)fʌɪl
NOUN
a person who is enthusiastic about new technology.
"he became an ardent technophile, buying every new gadget on the market"

The word technophile is said to have originated in the 1960s as an "unflattering word introduced by technophobes."

"Other technophiles see genetic engineering as a route to growth that is almost without end"

[EDIT]

If the source for technophile offends your aim to avoid any negative connotation then a positive philosophy word is Technogaians as associated with Transhumanist

Technogaians argue that "only science and technology can help humanity be aware of, and possibly develop counter-measures for, risks to civilization, humans and planet Earth such as a possible impact event"

And if you insist on an established political slant we have

Technoliberals who support such ideas as balance of powers in the government, decentralization, affordable education, the protection of our planet, Fine Arts, and the freedom of speech and communication technologies. However you are moving off centre from the idea of a "Fan of technology" which was fully encapsulated in my first word.

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Since you've added the neologisms tag, how about the portmanteau technophilanthropists? It appears that this word is already in wide enough use as can be evidenced by web search results:

Google search for "technophilanthropist"

This is the most formal web-page I found with this word so far (Library of Congress Catalog page for a certain book) : http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy1202/2011039926-d.html

And here is a description of "technophilanthropy" that I found in a commercial website (incidentally, it's about the same book):

Technophilanthropy is one of the most exciting aspects of this current “We” generation. It embraces technology and communication, with a focus on solving problems and helping communities thrive.

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  • He said they were political. Philanthropists are rich people who give money to good causes.... – Lambie Nov 25 '18 at 22:23
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Consider developing an expression which includes the term "Makers".

The maker movement isn't limited to STEM-oriented making, it includes craft and art makers as well, but the maker movement is very strongly associated with DIY (do-it-yourself) technology of every description: Electronics, digital, mechanical, chemistry, even biology, and the intersections among them.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maker_culture

One small down-side is that the expression might not speak to people who aren't already familiar with or part of the maker identity, even though they might otherwise be fully ready to grok what it means.

Another is that it doesn't necessarily extend (yet) to a scale beyond projects executed by individuals or small groups of hands-on developers, but in my opinion that is changing: High tech, low size projects are changing the world for people in "underserved" regions of the globe who don't have access to wired utilities, supply chains or networks, and makers are doing it and helping others do it. In other words, what I'm saying is that maker culture begins to change the scale at which policy and technology affect populations. Instead of creating a utility-type or economy-of-scale type production project for some particular technology, makers invent ways for the solution to be developed by small populations with little capital.

I'm sure you can see how that concept strongly associates with the kind of policy values you're talking about, so, with that in mind, if you're able to invent or brainstorm a way to use this expression in your campaign, it could be a step or catalyst toward eliminating that second downside and being an effective bit of messaging.

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  • For what it's worth, I rather like the neologism of "Humanist makers" or "maker-humanists". – Beanluc Nov 25 '18 at 19:42
  • Techno-makers would work. Humanist is terrrrrrible here. – Lambie Nov 25 '18 at 22:24
  • Not given the campaign parameters as stated by OP, @Lambie – Beanluc Nov 25 '18 at 22:36
  • "Techno-makers" is kind of duplicatively redundant. – Beanluc Nov 25 '18 at 22:37
  • No,it isn't. Not all makers in the maker communities around the US do technology. The maker movement includes many different things. – Lambie Nov 25 '18 at 22:41
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Gearheads

a person who pursues mechanical or technological interests (as in automobiles or computers)

Merriam-Webster

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    add a dictionary reference ... decent answer! – lbf Nov 24 '18 at 20:17
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    "Gearheads" has always had a more mechanical connotation to it, to my understanding. (For example, I might call Jeremy Clarkson a gearhead without necessarily considering him a tech enthusiast.) – Agi Hammerthief Nov 25 '18 at 11:00
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go Englishy, Polytechnics=use the noun from an adjective, polytechnical

This has the merit of basically being universally recognized.

go Spanishy-Poly-technos, another suggestion

go Greek: Poli-teknes

go beatnik: Poly-techniks [my favorite]

go French: Poli-techniques

In any event, tekne in Greek, actually means art.

Go with makers (as someone else suggested): Tecknik Makers or Tekne Makers

[This answer came out of my own head.]

From the idea of technology [tekne + logos] and polytechnical

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  • I fully respect the thoughtful spirit in which this answer was given. I'd suggest polytechnics and its cognates are more likely to throw readers than anything as the word's primary association is with practically-minded universities, and not a category of people - the context may be too limited to flesh things out into your intended sense. OP also seems concerned that their intended audience may be too simple to understand anything in any way high-minded! – tmgr Nov 26 '18 at 7:51
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STEMers

The increasingly common term that regards these fields in science, technology, engineering and math is called 'STEM', and the spin-off term, 'STEMers' is increasing traction. You can see its traction by checking out the twitter hashtag: https://twitter.com/hashtag/stemers?lang=en

The generalized term, 'Greens' implies that you are looking for something that people can easily identify, instead of following rigorous definitions of a term. If you can emphasize the captialzation correctly, "STEMers" or add hypen, "STEM-ers", the intent of that term can be easily discerned by social networks.

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  • Yes, but that is an educational term not a political one,or one that could be used for politics. – Lambie Nov 25 '18 at 22:25
  • @Lambie Since when the education is not political? And, if you checked the twitter feed (I provided the link above), you'll see that it is very politically motivated. Terms are not exclusive to 'education use only', and we are free to use these terms to convey the meaning we intend. The arbitrary boundaries of what can be used and not used only exist in the ivory towers. I'd appreciate it if you reverse your downvote. – Dr. Paul Kenneth Shreeman Nov 27 '18 at 2:04
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The proper term is techno-fetishists.

Oxford Living Dictionaries: English defines techno-fetishism as:

Noun
Obsession with or veneration of technology, especially fashionable consumer gadgets.

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    Bob, I can only presume this is a tongue-in-cheek comment rather than a genuine answer, since clearly no political party would want "fetishist" in their slogans. Comments are a privilege requiring 50 reputation points. You can earn these points fairly easily by posting good answers (each upvote earns you 10 pts) or questions (upvotes earn 5 pts). – Chappo Hasn't Forgotten Monica Nov 25 '18 at 23:10
  • It is a tongue-in-cheek comment (and commentary) on tech obsessed people. – Bob Nov 26 '18 at 1:06
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    Bob, I've flagged your answer for deletion as "Not An Answer", but you can choose to delete it yourself if you prefer. For further guidance on what's expected on our site, see How to Answer and take the Tour :-) – Chappo Hasn't Forgotten Monica Nov 26 '18 at 1:56

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