[kawaiikouhai]

>It's important to realize that this is vastly different from what scientists/philosophers throughout history have generally believed - even upto fairly recently, some form of Descartes-like dualism,

This spirit-physical duality is mainstream in the West, however you are reaching when you say that every culture and their thinkers held the same beliefs.

[tsimionescu]

Yes, I should have limited that statement to Europe and its (former) colonies.