ABSTRACT
It is a commonplace to say that we live in an increasingly materialistic society but it is not always made clear what this means. It does not just mean that people are obsessed with possessing more and more material goods. Their materialist bias also consists in a mindless commitment to the rat race. It means increasingly selling their souls to their jobs, careers, pop idols, or hobbies to the exclusion of the wider perspective. In narrowing people's interests and pre-occupations, this growing materialism shortens time scales and discourages individuals from delaying their choices. It is argued here that the strength and comfort of our spiritual well-being can no longer be found in dogmatic beliefs but in the process of looking into ourselves and evaluating our inner life. In time, the science of the human spirit may well replace religion as a concept.
