I can feel storms before they arrive. Like I sense the air change so I'm in tune with things like this. I couldn't sleep for a few days so I spent the time watching videos about China imminently doing things. The same sensation occurred and I could see Chairman Xi out of the corner of my eye, but he was a shadow version of himself.
I don't think people are naturally materialistic thinkers. I think the "default" for people is magical thinking, and we need to train ourselves to examine material reality properly. Our perceptions are always subjective, so it can feel like reality is subjective. And for 99% of people, this kind of idea that "reality is what you make of it" works fine in their day to day life, so it is never challenged, so they assume it is true.