The play starts off with us knowing Doctor Faustus is a very talented and brilliant scientist who has mastered just about everything a person can know. He has become bored because he knows all there is to know, and now is left with nothing else to study (Except for the supernatural). Faustus’ need to know more than he’s allowed is what leads to his demise, perhaps because there is a thing as “too much knowledge.” We do find out that his pact with the devil wasn’t only for the sake of learning new things, but also a lust for power, control and self indulgence. An excess of anything is bad and can turn a respectable and brilliant doctor into a foolish, power-hungry person. Faustus becomes so fixated on the idea of having control over everything, that he makes a very hasty decision of eternally damning his soul even after Mephistopheles and the good angel try to convince him otherwise.
We observe similar situations of wanting to know things, and having it lead to darkness (ie. Eve’s temptation). Marlow is hinting at a common human mistake that is often repeated through time. Instead of remaining humble and being content with your current state (whether it’s wealth or knowledge), humanity has a tendency to always want more and overreach. The need for more of something is always associated with evil, and non trivial ways of obtaining “more” because it’s not naturally allowed. We also learn that intelligence doesn’t necessarily reflect morality. Robin, a child living in poverty, was faced with a similar situation and quickly rejected the idea of exchanging his freedom for a few years of power. Having a pure heart and morals can’t be acquired through studying or research.
I think it’s important that you pointed out his actions being similar to a human mistake of overreaching and also relating it to Eve’s temptation. It’s the common theme of wanting everything in the moment and not thinking of the aftermath. Comparing it to present day, it seems pushing limits has become encouraged in society.
It’s true, as Briana and Melissa point out, that pushing limits seems to put one’s humanity at risk. For the Renaissance, this was a revolutionary notion. Today, as you say, it seems normal. People are actually reserving seats for a trip to Mars, for example. Is it inevitable that we lose sight of moral concerns as a consequence?