Strong individual motivation cannot be scaled-up

Amidst our civilization characterized by extremely weak motivation - probably the weakest in the history of the world - there are individuals who are strongly motivated. 

But these commonly make the mistake of assuming that their own personal motivation is something that can be scaled-up: the mistake of assuming that - "What motivates me is something that could - and perhaps should - motivate the masses". 

Yet each individual who has reached a situation of being highly-motivated, has reached that position as a consequence of an unique spiritual journey; starting-out with different innate character, abilities, situation - and then following a trajectory determined by previous choices and particular circumstances. 

There is really nothing to suggest that this unique pathway - or its particular end-point - ought to be, or could be, an effective template for motivating everybody else.

Nor even that any number of such personal odysseys will add-up or average to a formula for mass motivation. 

Quite the contrary: all actually-existing group-level motivations continue to be extremely feeble and to decline; no matter when or if individuals within these groups are genuinely powerfully motivated.  

Of course; it is impossible to prevent highly motivated individuals from assuming that some future mass and motivated group can be extrapolated from his own experience...

But in practice such assertions will continue to be treated as idiosyncratic, as eccentricities or hobby-horses. 

Because what worked for him, (almost certainly) will not work for me. (There are just too many differences.)

So, we shall, and increasingly, have small numbers of highly motivated individuals; but not highly motivated groups. 

And, if we are to have realistic optimism, it will need to depend on a confidence that individual persons operating "alone" (in a material sense) can indeed make a positive overall difference.  

In other words; confidence for a better word depends on the reality of "the spiritual", and its ultimate domination of "the material".