Belief in a “real world” with an existence independent of, and outside of, our minds is as much a leap of faith as believing in a beardy guy in the sky.
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The Obvious? 
I’m moderately sure that when I pack a parachute in its bag and leap of faith out of a plane, that its material persistence will have, at least, a chance of preventing me crashing to the ground, even when, for most of the time I could, at best, infer its persistence from the weight of the bag, although that too ceases the moment I jump.
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All of which is a story your brain made up a few moments ago and which is in itself a story that my mind just made up.
Being hit by a train in a dream causes pain, in the dream.
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You’re right, Euan, but we won’t ever know what our minds are or whether they operate for a purpose. Speculate less and enjoy whatever your creaturely body appears to encounter along the way (including dreams).
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Down that path lies a reductio ad absurdum to solipsism. You should read some of the New Materialism authors (de Landa, several feminists) and modern theories of consciousness. I suspect you are reacting to a 19th idea of materialism
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Nope. Lots of books on Taoism, Zen Buddhism, Advaita and even ploughing my way through A Course In Miracles couched in Christian terminology. Currently reading Bernardo Kastrup’s latest book written last year and referencing a lot of current science. I suspect that you are reacting to the books that you have read too Dave, each to their own.
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I look forward to you resolving global warming by thinking differently about it :-). I wouldn’t tar Daoism with the metaphysical idealist brush by the way
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