I read a book once called Spiritual Materialism by Choygyn Trungpa and he basically boiled it down to our ego and its need for attention. This need is so powerful it blinds us, even to those who think they are being spiritual and correct through self sacrifice when in fact it is merely a selfish act totally contrary to spiritual percepts. Peace on Earth goodwill toward men is easy to say and one can be even phony about it but in fact is one of the hardest things humans have ever attempted. Just look at our world today with all this knowledge we have, things have gotten worse not better. Ironic, isn't it?