"It takes the fewest assumptions to posit that only our own consciousness exists and that everything else it [is] material."

Sam, I enjoyed reading your reply, and it's a lot to think about but I will take exception to one 'assumption' (which may be the best word to use), you make. I'm not and would never claim to be a quantum physicist but I do understand that in the reality of the world of quarks (and the smaller 'particles' that comprise quarks and the even smaller 'particles' that comprise the parts of the parts of quarks) there is no 'matter' or 'material' in the sense that nothing 'touches' anything else. It can't because forces interact, so nothing is 'material/matter'. At the macro level we 'see' or feel reflections of those forces and they seem to us to be 'material', 'matter' but aren't at the micro level which is where the 'things' we perceive originate. It is the illusion of matter which we see and interact with, not anything solid. In that sense, we, and all 'matter' is illusion, so nothing can be physically 'touched'. At the micro-level, there are only forces that until we back away into the macro level in which we live and, much like an impressionist painting, or to be more accurate, a 'pointilliist' painting, all things appear to be solid (such as that lady walking by a lake) but if you 'zoom in' closely enough it's clear there is nothing 'solid' about any one 'thing' we 'see' in the painting. Just a lot of miniscule 'dots' of color, themselves also not 'solid'. Our minds provide the needed illusion that allows us to interact with the 'material world' we perceive. As such, the idea that all 'matter' in the universe contains a reflection of the entirety of the universe we perceive seems appropriate. As more than a few mystics and philosophers have said, the entirety of the universe can be seen in a grain of sand or a drop of water.

IMHO, I believe that to be true but, I could, of course, be wrong.

I hope I haven't wasted your time with my reply, and I do enjoy your writings.