Superficiality

"Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people."

The above is a quote from a book that I'm reading at the moment and it really made me think. Why are people so focused on short-term gains? And that's a criticism that's levelled at myself as much as anyone else. Surely the key things that we do in life should be inspired by something deeper? (although maybe that's assuming that there's some greater purpose to life, which I do believe there is)

This all sounds very serious I know. I'm not dismissing the need to have moments of relaxation and banter and so on - these very much have their place and I know that I'd go insane if I didn't lighten up and have a bit of a joke. But surely there should be something deeper underlying all this?

There are plenty of intelligent people in the world. As a whole, the global population is more educated now than ever before and some of the breakthroughs in technology are astounding. Every day the news contains stories of people that are gifted in every way imaginable. But unless these minds and abilities are used in a way that makes a difference, a real difference, ultimately who cares? And in order to do this I think you need to go deeper, and on a regular basis.