The fact that I perceive anything at all necessitates that I am a conscious mind, and the fact that I experience physical sensations necessitates that I have some sort of physical body [1]. I do not know the actual appearance or shape of my body, yet I know for sure that I have one nonetheless, for the mere existence of matter is not a speculative idea. Two of the most asinine metaphysical systems in all of philosophical history, materialism and idealism, deny either the existence of mind or the existence of matter, often by equating the two and erroneously misdefining one as nothing but a function of the other.
The arguments for either of these mistaken metaphysical notions usually rely on the "mind-body problem," which emphasizes that there is at least some degree of mystery regarding how an immaterial mind would interact with a physical body or vice versa. According to the arguments, an inability for the two to have a causal relationship means that there either is no such thing as immaterial consciousness (materialism/naturalism; there is not anything immaterial at all according to strict materialism) or there is no such thing as matter (idealism). As I will address later, materialism is already false because there are other things besides consciousness that are immaterial, so immaterial existents could be proven even if consciousness was not separate from matter. Idealism, however, can only be refuted by showing that matter of some kind does exist.
The myth that it is impossible or unlikely for something immaterial and something material to share causal connections rests on nothing but false assumptions. There is no actual mind-body "problem." The exact manner by which consciousness and matter interact has yet to be exposed, but the fact that I experience both mental and physical sensations proves that they do. Every time that my mind registers a physical feeling, my body, whatever it is like beyond the veil of perception, has causally impacted my mind. Every time that my mind wills for my legs to walk, my arms to be raised in the air, or my mouth to produce speech, my mind has causally impacted my body. Thus, it is not that mind and matter cannot affect each other, but that I do not know how they do so.
Ignorance of how nonphysical consciousnesses and physical bodies have causal relationships does nothing to hide that there is a fully provable causal relationship between them. Since one can establish that both consciousness and matter exist without resorting to faith in the existence of either, one can demonstrate that the two do coexist. This is a brute fact that can be discovered by anyone who exercises thorough rationality. Furthermore, reason exposes how the folly of materialism and idealism is greater than the mere denial that either mind or matter exists: neither acknowledges that there is far more to reality than just consciousness or physical substance.
There is the pathetic but persistent error that treats all things as if they are either mind or matter, when there are other immaterial things besides consciousness [2], some of which depend on neither matter nor consciousness, whether human or divine, for their existences. The laws of logic, space, and time are external to consciousness and not comprised of matter (thus one can entirely refute materialism without even demonstrating the immateriality of consciousness). In fact, there are ways that immaterial and material things interact that have nothing to do with a mind-body connection. The laws of logic govern all things, including matter. Matter cannot even exist without space to hold it. Events could not occur in the external world without time.
Substance dualism alone does not acknowledge all that exists. It is unfortunate that debates about the mind-body "problem" are often accompanied by the assumption that everything is somehow reducible to either consciousness or matter, when that idea is antithetical to the truth. However, any denial of mind-body interaction can only be the product of stupidity and ignorance. I have a mind and a body and they are both capable of causing phenomena that involves each.
[1]. https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2017/07/dreams-and-consciousness.html
[2]. https://thechristianrationalist.blogspot.com/2018/10/substance-dualism-is-not-whole-of.html
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