Graham...I have tried for years to say clearly what you just managed to express. I think I will copy this part into my collection of quotes that pop up on my screen occasionally.

" ... putting forward body/spirit duality is the *failure* to apply intellect, because it presents an intellectual dead end where the answer is "just because"."

I really don't know what to say to those who accept and defend 'body/spirit duality' based on the idea that their own subjective interpretation of their own experience trumps any other possible explanation. "just because" ranks right up there with "just wait until it happens to you!" I really can't see why MY having an 'interesting' intense experience would either prove or disprove any theories.

Gradually, we ARE "throwing people down the river in barrels and tracking the barrels to figure out how the river flows,", and who knows what better tracking devices will show in the future? I suspect it will be more than we got from "just because".