The Psychology Of Collecting

"Freud suggested collecting stems from toilet training."

During covid or any storm/hurricane the first thing that was cleared off the shelves was toilet paper. People collected/hoarded far more than they needed and creating unnecessary scarcity.

Reminds me of the song...'Never enough' from the Greatest Showman. A good lyric commercial remake for Charmin... 'Never enough to wipe me, wipe me, WIPE MEEEE!"

The Squirrel's Dilemma

"Thus, it may be that compulsive hoarding and compulsive gambling can be at least partially explained by evolutionary bet hedging. In its strictest form, if diverse gambling and hoarding behaviors were the result of randomized phenotypic realizations of a single genotype, we would not expect to see any influence of heredity in these behaviors. In fact, available evidence suggests that the appearance of these disorders is at least partially sustained by genetic diversity rather than by random phenotypic realizations."

Interesting thoughts, but how much is enough in a catastrophe. By its nature that is unknowable. On the other hand, I collect cds and have the perfect amount of them. Until tomorrow.

If your heirs don't share your passion, and they seldom do, your collected treasures eventually end up being somebody else's junk when you pass. Unfortunately, the frivolity of collecting doesn't become apparent until our senior years when mortality becomes more of an issue. On the flip side, most collections are a healthy obsession, and the collectors derive a great deal of pleasure from them while they are alive.