If consciousness evolved to make life worth living, its success is qualified: while there are surely times when we relish existence, human experience is rife with counter-examples. Humphrey would respond that consciousness succeeds in this respect just as well as it needs to: natural selection asks for nothing more, and indeed his explanation for the widespread belief in the soul turns on our fear of death. 

Humphrey's proposed solution to the deep question of how our bodies and brains beget our minds is bound to meet with scepticism. He is right to focus on the notion of the soul, and to emphasise the degree to which we humans are "connoisseurs of consciousness". If he fails to dispel the mystery of the mind entirely, it is partly because he succeeds so well in evoking it. Soul Dust is an Ode to Being. This may be the least we should expect, but few consciousness enthusiasts have succeeded so well.