This is a fun challenge for anyone to attempt to prove by logic or by evidence that hallucinations are generated by the brain (materialism) and not by an external mind functioning through the brain (dualism)
Debunker's dismiss paranormal phenomena as delusions / illusions of the mind, sensory deceptions, false memories, the brain filling in the gaps, lucid dreaming during sleep paralysis, wishful thinking, etc. Yet none of these arguments are that meaningful ....... until they prove one thing ..... the brain is producing these hallucinations.
So let me argue (for fun) the case that hallucination points to an external mind/consciousness..
(1) Materialists do not seem to be able to give a good enough reason for dreaming to evolve via natural selection, the incredibly complex capacity to dream, fantasize or hallucinate ..... at all.... period.
Yet we dream every night. If we are deprived dreaming, we can become seriously ill, the result of deprivation of sleep or dreams results in hallucinations when awake. Why are these seemingly worthless illusions so vital to our sanity and consciousness? What was the evolutionary advantage of a dream, fantasy or hallucination?
The challenge for materialists is to say how through natural selection we developed the capacity to dream, name the evolutionary advantage of the brain creating false cinematic like experiences that do not match the physical world and therefore offer no evolutionary advantage. If sceptics are going to claim dreaming is an epiphenomenon of some other vital evolutionary advantage, what specifically?
(2)
Are skeptics willing to agree if a hallucination can be shared to any degree with another person simultaneously, we should view these as semi-real or virtual reality type experiences?
Is there evidence? Yes, between 1966 and 2004, 1270 controlled trials of dream telepathy experiments, 9.1% above chance creating odds of 22 billion to one. The capacity to share a dream or hallucination is also a definition of a weak virtual reality.
So debunkers can no longer state with total confidence any hallucination is 100% false. What we commonly consider 'hallucination' can now be viewed as potentially semi-real even if these do not match our physical world experience, our common (physical) sense viewpoint.
(3) Are skeptics willing to agree that *if* dream telepathy exists and *if* in other circumstances dream telepathy becomes stronger, this would indicate a stronger, more vivid virtual reality theoretically could evolve?
(4) If psi is not a brain function but an external mind function being filtered by the brain, then
upon brain death psi may become much stronger, our previously weak virtual reality becomes a much strong virtual reality, vividly real and probably shared ..... yes, life after death may have evolved to become a vivid virtual reality Nature may have simply beaten us to evolving virtual reality long before we do so on any computer system.
(4)Are skeptics willing to agree that *if* the brain is a filter of a consciousness (and hallucination), not the source of consciousness, people will hallucinate/imagine when any sort of brain interface disruption occurs whether via alcohol, drugs, oxygen deprivation, brain damage, etc.
so the arguments by materialistic neuroscientists that they can trigger hallucination by various means, isn't conclusive evidence the brain is generating these hallucinations and these can alternatively be viewed as little more than a spanner in the brain workings? . Hallucination may just be a fundamental aspect of an external consciousness when isolated from senses and brain interface?
(6) Therefore even if out of the body experiences or Near Death Experience do not perfectly match our common (physical) sense reality, the claim by materialists that this proves OBE/NDEs are false, is unproven
until they prove hallucinations are a brain function.
NDEs seem to occur even when the brain is electrically dead. . The information achieved during OBEs and NDEs do NOT need to perfectly match our physical world, all that matters is that the information is statistically beyond chance.
(7) If an external mind's natural state is to dream or fantasize, Upon physical brain death some people theoretically may become confused, become unaware they have physically died, some may enter a virtual illusion of their own making. This matches the long-standing claims of hauntings, ghosts and those trapped in tragic like dream experiences upon physical death . ....... who apparently eventually escape to the light (similar to the tunnel of light in NDE?) to enter a shared reality with others, reportedly a very pleasant virtual reality. Remember our physical world is rather virtual like too, nothing is really solid, our
shared [physical senses make it appear so..
Conclusion
Debunkers, if you wish to dismiss paranormal claims, just calling these hallucinations is NOT enough. You cannot call hallucination evidence of absolutely no psi or absolutely no consciousness external to brain ...... first you have to prove a mechanism in the brain that makes people hallucinate!
Open Mind
PS Let me make it clear, I also agree with skeptics there needs to be empirical evidence for psi. However, the point of this topic is, skeptics should not dismiss psi claims because these contain fanciful elements, the only important thing is that the psi information should be beyond chance in a properly controlled experiment. The hypothesis that psi is brain filter leakage dates back to the 1890s and expects psi to be commonly weak.. It doesn't expect psi to be commonly astoundingly accurate, just slightly better than chance.