"Can the abnegation of all hedonistic pursuits induce a somewhat "higher consciousness" in the materialistic sense?"
Only in the sense of there being less distractions, but I'd imagine their efforts becoming their distraction of choice. When it's done through faith, they are still distracted from another source, trading once vice for another.
My own approach to avoiding the things I like are purely motivated from wanting the desire to build up again. When you have something you want all the time without complications you gain a tolerance to how enjoyable it is, whereas if you take long enough breaks they become more worth the time spent on it.
"Everything is artificial, everything is made for us. People begin to get brainwashed into this social order, they begin to forget what they truly are... They forget that nature is a real thing, that not everything is made directly for their advantage."
It's the logical steps towards evolving Man into Manchine. We no longer need to be natural to survive, and is being natural really a better alternative? From what I can tell both kinda suck once the glow of it's gone.
More and more life's having people be treated more like cogs. As efficiency and convenience become expected with desire as the carrot on a stick, people's importance become more like parts of a schematic. Either we'll adapt and become more like cyberbrains from Ghost in the Shell to keep up with the advancements, or we'll be wiped out by something more efficient we've made ourselves. Either way, humanity is a stepping stone towards something "more", and we're in the process of finding out what the costs of producing it is.
"Thoughts on asceticism?"
It's one of many distractions from the struggles of life, an opiate of pride practiced through unnecessary self control. I guess they figure if the struggles are somewhat self inflicted that they're somehow better.