Why materialists are predominantly materialists

[Arkilogue]

There may not be consensus on when the change occurs, but the evidence is clear that an infant goes from not knowing that an object has independent existence to a time when all objects are seen as persisting even when out of sight.  This is strong evidence that the belief in independently existing external matter is not learned, so much as it is a part of normal development of the brain.  My view is that just as consciousness is structured along lines of physical dimension and time, ala Kantian Idealism, it is also structured in that we perceive objects as having permanence.  The simplest explanation of the experience is that things are composed of material.  It's not something we learn.  It's something that's programmed into us by evolution.

I see something more fundamental in your comment: It's not the objective material nature per-say but the recognition of pattern the material is in that the mind expects. Say I stole the weather vein off the roof of your house, something you look at but never really touch and I replaced it with a convincing hologram. You would assume by sight it is still there, even though it's not materially there.

Pattern recognition is primarily a space/light sight phenomenon and not an operation of physical touch although blind people can turn touch into that required mental spatial pattern recognition to navigate the material world.

We expect our chair to be in the shape of a chair when we return to it and not a pile of unconnected atoms.