Extrapolating further, Ma says that overemphasis on knowledge and science means people lack the appropriate mental tools to help them understand their inner life. Thus, as material culture becomes more and more advanced and knowledge becomes more and more objective, we become more and more deficient in spiritual cultivation, and our moral character is more and more debased.
馬叔禮進而引伸，過度知識化、科學化，缺乏一套相對的思維來幫助人瞭解內在生命，如此物質越文明，知識越純粹客觀，精神越缺乏修行，人格品德也就越低。