Of the many words mocking the opposite of a Luddite, I've always liked "Panglossian", from Dr. Pangloss in Candide. > Dr. Pangloss was the pedantic old tutor i

Of the many words mocking the opposite of a Luddite, I've always liked "Panglossian", from Dr. Pangloss in Candide. > Dr. Pangloss was the pedantic old tutor in Voltaire's satirical novel Candide. Pangloss was an incurable, albeit misguided, optimist who claimed that "all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds." So persistent was he in his optimism that he kept it even after witnessing and experiencing great cruelty and suffering. The name "Pangloss" comes from Greek pan, meaning "all," and glossa, meaning "tongue," suggesting glibness and talkativeness. You see people trying to articulate the desperation they feel about job loss, and some Pangloss sweeps by to comfort them by talking about how macroeconomically speaking they are more than offset by someone else's gain in welfare. It's bizarre.