Is reality is fundamentally composed of minds and their ideas? In the Mind Matters News podcast episode “Is There a Mind Behind the Math Behind the Material World?” hosts Robert J. Marks and Brian Krouse tackle the question with molecular biologist Douglas Axe.

Idealism is rooted in the work of an 18th-century philosopher, Bishop George Berkeley (1685‒1753). Unlike physicalism, which claims that only physical matter exists, or dualism, which separates physical and non-physical entities, idealism posits that what we perceive as the material world— think planets, buildings, or your phone— is actually a manifestation of divine thoughts. In this view, God is the ultimate mind, creating and sustaining the universe as a coherent set of ideas. Humans, as individual minds, interact within this divine framework, experiencing a reality from God.

Axe frames reality in terms of three categories: thinkers (minds like ours), thoughts (ideas we have), and things (material objects). Idealism collapses these categories into just two— thinkers and thoughts. For an idealist, “things” are not a distinct category but rather thoughts in God’s mind, continuously upheld to provide a consistent experience for us.  

Physicalism: Why Matter Can’t Explain Everything

Axe critiques physicalism, the idea that everything, including consciousness, can be reduced to physical processes. He uses a thought experiment to illustrate its shortcomings: imagine scientists monitoring your brain with advanced imaging while you count to ten. The scientists can see every neuron firing when you say “two,” but they can’t display the concept of “two” itself. The number “two” is an abstract idea, not a physical thing in your brain.

This gap reveals that thoughts aren’t material, which undermines physicalism’s claim that everything boils down to matter. If physicalism can’t account for consciousness, Axe argues, it leads to a self-defeating conclusion: we’d have to admit we’re so confused that nothing— including physicalism itself— makes sense.

Dualism’s Dilemma: The Mind‒Body Problem

Next, Axe tackles substance dualism, often associated with philosopher René Descartes. On that view, humans consist of a physical body and an immaterial mind. While dualism acknowledges the non-physical nature of consciousness, it struggles with the interaction problem: how does the immaterial mind communicate with the physical body? For instance, when you stub your toe, how does that physical pain become a mental experience? Dualism leaves an unbridgeable divide between these realms. Idealism resolves this dilemma, he argues, by eliminating the physical as a separate category. Everything is mental, part of God’s thoughts, so there’s no need for a mysterious connection between mind and matter.

Quantum Mechanics and the Case for Idealism

Axe sees modern physics— especially quantum mechanics and its implications— as bolstering idealism. He also highlights the “unreasonable effectiveness of mathematics” in physics, a phenomenon noted by Nobel laureate Eugene Wigner. Why does the physical world conform so precisely to mathematical laws? Idealism suggests it’s because the universe is a mathematical structure—a divine idea.

Quantum mechanics deepens this argument: electrons exhibit wave-particle duality, behaving as waves until observed, then collapsing into particles, defying classical notions of matter.

Additionally, quantum entanglement shows non-locality, where particles separated by vast distances instantaneously affect each other, in essence violating Einstein’s special relativity, which limits effects to the speed of light.

This creates a paradox where effects can seem to precede causes, challenging the causal structure of physics. Axe interprets these anomalies as evidence that the physical world isn’t the ultimate reality but a mathematical construct upheld by God, designed to point beyond itself to a divine mind.

Idealism in Practice: A Divine Interface

Axe illustrates idealism with a practical example: two people playing catch. When you throw a ball, your intention— a mental act— is perceived by God, who translates it into physical action by activating your brain and muscles. The ball’s trajectory, the air it moves through, and your friend’s perception of it are all part of God’s mathematical framework, calculated in real-time. Your friend sees the ball because God transforms light hitting their retina into a mental experience. This eliminates dualism’s interaction problem, as everything happens within the realm of divine thought, with God mediating between human minds and the “physical” world.

Implications for Science and Beyond

For scientists, idealism shifts the paradigm. Physicists might reconsider the nature of their work— particle physics, while valuable, isn’t probing the ultimate reality but a divine mathematical structure. In neuroscience, the brain becomes a pre-processor, handling sensory data that God then presents as conscious experiences, rather than the source of consciousness itself. Idealism also accommodates phenomena like near-death experiences, where individuals report seeing things (e.g., a shoe on a hospital roof) while clinically dead. Axe suggests God can provide mental experiences directly, independently of the brain, supporting the idea that minds aren’t tethered to physical bodies.

A Different Lens on Reality Axe’s exploration of idealism in Minding the Brain offers a challenging alternative to physicalism and dualism, blending philosophy, science, and theology. By viewing the material world as divine thoughts, idealism offers a resolution to longstanding metaphysical issues and aligns with quantum mechanics’ peculiarities. It presents a universe where God actively sustains a mathematical reality for human minds to inhabit, challenging us to look beyond the physical to the mind behind it all.