Consciousness: Is it seperate from the human body?

[Hezekiah]

It may indeed be that the "exterior world" is very different from our sense maps/pictures/data - but it would be difficult to explain our success as a species (and more generally the success of other species which we view as their "outsiders" using similar equipment) - were this the case.

if the case is that the only tools we have to understand the unvierse with are several pounds of meat we call a brain, is it better to think that we can fully understand the universe by these means, or to think that we are more than our brains?

I fail to see how those are even opposing choices referent to some singular question? Is it better to what, with what, and what does this have to do with..well...anything? We -are- "more" than our brains. It's the total package. You don't point at a pair of axles with wheels attached and call them a BMW, right? "More" doesn't imply any sort of floating consciousness. It would be pointless to attempt to explain some aspect of consciousness without referencing everything that goes into it, because the limitations and ability of each component part are going to give us the tech specs for whatever we're referencing. "Touch" isn;t "just" the impulse in your brain, it has to do with the thickness of your skin, it's pliability, the way it interacts with objects of differing compositions...hell, even temperature (notice that a metal pole which is precisely the same temperature as the air outside will "feel" colder - that's not just a "software" bug or brain related..it's a kink of the supporting hardware as well).

I guess I'm not being entirely clear with my terminology about what I'm trying to ask. I know that we are literally "more" than our brains. And I'm not advocating that you, how you say, "point at a pair of axles with wheels attached and call them a BMW". I'm not pointing at the brain and calling it a human being, but rather the opposite. I'm point at the brain and saying it's not the entire human being. I'm asking if it is more reasonable to rest in the idea that our bodies are sufficient enough to unlock all the secrets of the universe or, to rest in what I see as an equally outlandish idea of our bodies are not fit to find all the answers in this life.

EDIT: BUT you answered my question before I could post this haha.