This is the crack in the materialistic egg. The homunculus provides us with consciousness. The consciousness not physical, cannot be weighed and measured. We can time how fast the eye responds to a flashed word, but we cannot time consciousness itself. However, consciousness has energy, spiritual energy.
Many people are asleep and a few are truly alive.
It seems so remarkable in this age of science that most religions can be so primitive, ridged and anti-science. Religion often uses hypnosis. I use this word rather broadly, but consider how we get so evolved by a movie, or worry about the news that has nothing to do with ourselves. Consider how much money is spent by advertisers. Chanting, religious music, sing-song preaching are hypnotic.