Mere molecules?

According to materialists, there’s nothing else in the universe but matter: matter, and matter interacting with matter. In this sense, there’s little difference between us, rock, dust, stars and bacteria. We all come from the same materials. Okay, so we also have a mental capacity and consciousness. But aren’t they just bio-chemical reactions – much like other bio-chemical reactions that occur with all other pieces of matter?

Idealism, on the other hand, sees reality as being constructed from our mind, which is free from matter, being as it is a spirit, a life force.

Meanwhile mind-body dualism sees these two elements as being distinct from one another, thereby allowing one to be physical and the other non-physical.

What do you think? Where could this thread of inquiry take you?