There is no single answer to your question. People are both complex and different. Taking materialistic desires (which is what I think you are asking about)...One reason that a person might never be satisfied with what they have is if they define their self through the objects that they own. For example, some people might think that if they have a more expensive car or a more expensive house than another person, then it shows (to both them self and the other person) that they are better than that other person (worked harder, is smarter...and so forth). Other people may always want more materialistically, but for different reasons. They judge their own success based on material items....objects, and money specifically, give a concrete gauge (something tangible that can be 'seen'). I may see my own success in terms of what I have financially achieved. Other people may just want to accumulate as much as they can to try and ensure the success of their offspring. And some people are never satisfied because they couldn't imagine being satisfied...they might ask..what would I do with my time if I didn't devote it to trying to get more.

Perhaps a deeper reason (and I say perhaps because its always speculation when we talk about this kind of stuff) is that, given that there is a limited amount of resources (only so much food to go around, only so much water to go around) that there is something built into us from our more primitive days that manifests as a desire to always seek more. Back in the 'old' days of caveman living, people stored up as much food as they could get their hands on, because you never know if you will find more when you run out. Now, even though many of us are not really worried about running out of food (in the sense that they were)...that mentality still exists deep in our brains, and we manifest it through houses, cars, and that kind of stuff.

Another perhaps 'deep' reason is that, just like peacock feathers, having more might act as a mechanism to make one more attractive as a reproductive partner. This still manifests pretty clearly today, but still in a somewhat different way from our 'cave' days.

That doesn't exhaust the possible reasons that people are never satisfied, but it's a few reasons. In short, human psychology and human desire is complex...and you really have to look at it on a case by case basis.

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