Almost all of us find ourselves at some point in our life collecting stuff.  Not valuable artworks, or golden treasures, but common things that other people would probably discard.  Whether its beer caps, stamps, boxes, rocks, cards or figurines, many of us feel compelled to collect things.  Why is this?

Psychologists have called this phenomena “collecting behavior” and the symptoms range from small collections to very large collections.  Some people collect everything and anything that comes there way, we usually call them pack rats.  But this drive to collect may come from our inner desire to produce something.  We all feel the need to account for the time we are given, whether it is at through work; we collect money, praise, success; or through free-time we collect things that relatively have no monetary value.  The simple idea is that are brains are hard wired for production and whatever environment we find ourselves in is one in which we try and establish a network of producing.

When we recognize in our leisure time that we are off the clock so to speak, our minds become free to pursue other things, and most importantly to create new networks of value.  A person who collects bottle caps may want to use them for an art project some day; a stamp collector may want to see the different variations in the stamps format over time; a box collector may recognize that they could reuse the boxes for gifts in the future or to store stuff when they get around to it.  Whatever the initial reason, the habitual nature of collecting gives us a sense of producing some kind of order or routine much like what we encounter at work with our daily schedules and interactions. 

Psychologists believe that most collecting is “normal” as long as it does not distract us with day to day responsibilities or dramatically effect our interaction with people and the world around us.  It is interesting to note too the difference in how society at large is effected by “collectors.”  Sites like Ebay and others give people a chance to circulate their collectables and ensure that things are put to some use rather than ending up in a landfill.  Another example is what occurred during the Great Depression in the 1930’s when people made sure they kept everything just in case one could find a use for it some time in the future, especially facing the uncertainty of the times.  With the recent economic situation around the world and the increasing threat of climate change, many people will probably began collecting more stuff out of an uncertainty about the future.

Collecting can be a positive habit in the world and it is probably a result of our over-riding desire to be productive beings even outside of work.  Collecting behavior is for the most part completely normal and is indeed a larger part of how our society interacts and collectively deals with the present and future.