Materialism and technology is leading to worse mental health and the splintering of society, but with attention and effort people can turn back this tide. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo
Kidlin’s Law says that “if you can clearly write down a problem, you already have half the solution.”
To understand a problem and move toward its solution, we must first be able to name it clearly.
One of the most pervasive and damaging imbalances of our time has become so common that it often goes unnoticed: the growing dominance of materialism over spirituality in modern life.
This imbalance is not merely philosophical. It directly affects quality of life, emotional well-being, mental health, and the growing prevalence of psychosomatic illness across societies.
In the digital age, this tension has intensified. What was once a manageable imbalance has evolved into a structural distortion that quietly undermines inner stability, meaning, and human connection.
The problem: Unchecked materialism in a digital society
Contemporary society displays a marked disproportion between the material and the spiritual dimensions of life. Materialism now advances unchecked, driven by rapid global processes that amplify superficiality and appearances, alongside individualism, hedonism, nihilism, and consumerism. Together, these forces strip human existence of deeper meaning.
The inner life gives way to obsession with the external. Objects are increasingly treated as substitutes for emotional or spiritual fulfillment, under the illusion that possessions can fill inner voids. From this perspective, materialism does not merely distort values. It harms, and in some cases contributes directly to psychological suffering and premature death.
We lose our capacity for wonder. Our sensitivity to the subtle and the interior erodes. What remains is a restless pursuit of things that promise satisfaction but rarely deliver it.
The toll is measurable.
According to the World Health Organization, depression and anxiety disorders affect over one billion people globally, with rates rising sharply in wealthy, consumer-driven societies.
A 2023 study by the American Psychological Association found that individuals who prioritize material success over intrinsic goals report significantly higher levels of anxiety and depression.
In Latin America, youth suicide rates have climbed by roughly 30 percent over the past decade, correlating with social fragmentation and weakened community bonds. These are not abstractions; they are symptoms of the imbalance this essay examines.
Material reification: Turning meaning into objects
At the heart of this process lies reification: the act of transforming ideas-and even human relationships — into things to be possessed. The term comes from the Latin res, or thing, and facere, meaning “to make,” literally meaning “to make into a thing.”
In modern culture, spiritual searching is frequently displaced by material accumulation.
Meaning is no longer sought inwardly or relationally, but externally, through consumption. Experiences and identity itself become commodified and life risks being reduced to an inventory.
Social media offers a clear example.
Identity is curated into a portfolio of possessions, experiences, and status markers for public display. The spiritual dimension of self-knowledge is replaced by metrics of external validation: followers, likes, and engagement.
A 2024 study by Stanford researchers found that individuals with high social media engagement reported lower life satisfaction despite greater perceived material abundance. The paradox is instructive: more proof of a good life, less experience of one.
Nothing new under the sun
This struggle is not new. Ancient traditions warned against it. Biblical prohibitions against idol worship and the story of the golden calf reflect early resistance to replacing transcendent meaning with tangible objects.
Philosophical traditions echo the same concern.
Reification represents a deviation from transcendence, a confusion between having and being, as happiness becomes equated with possession and success with economic achievement, while personal fulfillment and inner development are neglected.
Relationships reduced to surfaces
This material logic does not stop at objects; it reshapes human relationships. When appearances dominate, relationships risk becoming superficial and instrumental. Their spiritual dimension weakens.
When social value is measured primarily by what one owns rather than who one is, identity itself becomes fragile. Meaning retreats into the private sphere, while the communal and transcendent lose relevance. The result is isolation masked as autonomy.
Contemporary perspectives
Several contemporary thinkers have analyzed these dynamics from different angles.
Some argue that performance culture and consumption reify identity, generating exhaustion and inner emptiness. Others examine how consumer culture aestheticizes life, blurring the line between the trivial and the meaningful.
Research on materialism and purpose shows how the erosion of meaning directly affects personal and spiritual fulfillment.
The idea of “liquid modernity” captures this instability well.
Relationships and values become constantly shifting and easily broken. Even spiritual pursuits can fall into the trap of “spiritual materialism,” in which the search for meaning is reduced to the accumulation of experiences or status symbols.
The cost of imbalance
When essential human dimensions become unstable, the consequences are severe:
- Identity weakens. Community bonds erode. Individuals feel unprotected in the face of existential uncertainty. Performance pressure isolates, and pleasure-driven individualism fragments society.
And the costs extend beyond individual psychology.
Societies with weakened shared meaning face declining trust, polarization, and institutional fragility. When meaning cannot be found collectively, despair fills the vacuum.
The path forward: Restoring balance
The antidote to materialism is not rejection of the material world, but balance.
A dynamic equilibrium between inner and outer life is essential. This is where spirituality reenters, not as dogma, but as reflective interiority.
From a philosophical perspective, spirituality involves a reflective inner life rooted in consciousness and freedom. It shapes worldview and anchors life in shared meaning that transcends mere material existence.
Spirituality beyond religion
Spirituality, as understood here, is broader than religion. It is not confined to formal belief systems.
Rather, it is the larger universe that includes diverse forms of religiosity, philosophical inquiry, ethical reflection, and inner development.
It is the container, not just one of its contents.
A final call
The principles and values that sustain personal fulfillment and human flourishing are well known but often neglected.
Caring for the inner life, especially through reflection and self-awareness, is no longer optional. It is essential for mental health, social harmony, and institutional resilience.
The task before us is clear: to restore balance and recover meaning, without denying the material realities of life.
This is not a call to withdraw from the world, but to live more fully within it, integrating inner depth with outward action.
The choice, and the work, are ours.
Carlos Cantero is a Chilean academic at the International University of La Rioja in Spain. An international lecturer, adviser, and consultant, his work focuses on adaptability to the digital society, ethics, social innovation, and human development. The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author.
