12. Spiritual Science as a Life's Work

Those people who are still building such a materialistic-atomistic world structure themselves, who are, so to speak, at its origin, are still exercising their souls in the process. Haeckel himself, Ostwald, his closest disciples, and others are still actively involved in this; they can still develop inner forces, and one could still compare what they work out for themselves internally with their science with what is gained through spiritual science, which appeals to the inner soul forces of human beings. But for those who are no longer at the forefront of the development of such materialistic worldviews, or who passively adopt such a worldview, what a materialistic worldview does to the soul is like food that is not digested, that cannot develop the forces that need to be developed, that the soul truly hungers for. It is possible to stave off hunger without actually eating. It works. But what hunger indicates cannot be staved off for the outer organism without food. In the same way, the soul's hunger for spiritual nourishment can be stifled by spoiling the appetite for spiritual life through a materialistic worldview. But in the long run, this does not work for the human soul.