Catalog
Categorize
Catalog/Categorize

The human impulse to catalog is a profound psychological mechanism for comprehending complexity. In Martens' Arctic expedition, this manifests as a systematic approach to understanding an alien environment. Categorization becomes a form of intellectual conquest, transforming the chaotic and unknown into a structured, manageable narrative. It's a method of creating meaning through organization, where each observed phenomenon is neatly placed into predetermined conceptual boxes, reducing the overwhelming sensory experience of an unfamiliar landscape to a series of classifiable elements.