Philosophy of the Void

When I approach something new, I always seem to behave the same
way.  First, I will try a lot of different things, particularly
things I find exotic.  If I don’t find something I like, this will
tend to go on for a long time.  If I find something I like (and
usually this won’t take very long), I will stick with it indefinitely
in a very stubborn, repetitive way.  I can think of several
examples.  When I was in grade school, I came to be fascinated
with those cool pencil cases that had hidden gadgets (thermometer,
magnifying glass, pencil sharpener, etc.) in them that you could
release by pushing little buttons.  I finally got one when I was
in third or fourth grade.  All the gadgets were busted by middle
school, but ended up keeping it through high school.  When I first
started listening to pop music, I was in Japan, and the first CD I
listened to was by Mr. Children. 
I liked their music, and my friends will tell you that I follow this
band like a cult nearly a decade later.  When I was an
undergraduate, I started drinking coffee.  After a while, I
decided that I like tall mochas with a touch of whip cream and vanilla
essence.  The folks at the local coffee shop start making this the
moment I walk in the door now.  On the other end of the spectrum
are things like alcoholic and carbonated beverages, authors,
philosophers, U.S. Presidents, and conspiracy theories, for which I’ve
never really found a favorite.  

I wonder why people develop favorites.  Favorites range from those
that make you who you are – significant others, friends, religions – to
those that seem pretty trivial – brand name clothing, TV shows, pencil
cases.  What determines the things we develop favorites for and
the things we don’t really care about?  I suppose it’s a lot of
coincidence and some natural proclivity.  You could say human
beings are the face of randomness.  I guess orderly thought is
necessary to reach an understanding of that though.