But that example is unlike what we were discussing. If I were making the claim that some completely unknown and unknowable thing exists then your objection wou

But that example is unlike what we were discussing. If I were making the claim that some completely unknown and unknowable thing exists then your objection would be on point, but that is not what I am doing. What I am doing is challenging your claim that things like matter and brains exist independently of consciousness, because the evidence you have for that claim is tainted by the fact that the evidence itself is known only via conscious experience. In many ways materialism is more like your example about unknowable fairies than anything I have said because ultimately it postulates that there is something called matter that exists independently of consciousness and yet is knowable only through consciousness. That concept of "bare matter" as a thing in itself looks a lot like your unknowable fairies.