If consciousness can be explained by psychology and neuroscience, then the case for mind-brain
identity is overwhelming. I argued that we already have excellent starts on neural explanations for
perception, learning, memory, and other mental processes, such as reading. The main phenomena that
might support the alternative hypothesis that minds are souls, including reports of communication with
the dead, near-death experiences, and parapsychology, can be explained away as incidents of fraud
and error. Consciousness cannot be explained away, but Chapter 5 will point to paths that take it
seriously but suggest how scientific advances might occur.