This is a common historical fallacy. Like "It used to be that Greeks would sit around inventing geometry, philosophy, and democracy. Now they just ruin banks."
There were always both kinds of people, and the inventors who are driven by the love of science and learning have always been a minority. It's just that the people who only care about personal wealth rarely make it into history books, whereas the iconoclastic scientists frequently do. And the same is true today.
"It's just that the people who only care about personal wealth rarely make it into history books, whereas the iconoclastic scientists frequently do."
Arguably even this isn't true - Many people know the name of, say, Archimedes and Newton, but I doubt it's more than the people who know Julius Caesar and Genghis Khan. Might be close though.
What I'm trying to say is, what percentage of people can name a couple of great thinkers from the classical era? Now compare that to the percentage of people who can name a wealthy merchant or banker from the same period.
There were always both kinds of people, and the inventors who are driven by the love of science and learning have always been a minority. It's just that the people who only care about personal wealth rarely make it into history books, whereas the iconoclastic scientists frequently do. And the same is true today.