Are human beings part of the physical universe?

Perhaps some people may have various motivations for answering "no" to that question:

1. Pragmatics of English language usage: given that it's rude to speak of a particular person as being a "thing", some people may jump to the conclusion "no."

2. Naive religious view: some people can tolerate the idea that the universe doesn't literally revolve around the Earth and they might be able to tolerate the idea of being related to non-human primates, but insist that there is a completely undefined "spiritual realm" that is necessarily not an aspect of the physical universe.

3. Naive atheist view: some people have a philosophy that puts special emphasis on physics, chemistry, etc. They may be very reluctant to accept complicated aspects of human interactions as falling entirely within the realm of fact. If they were to accept that, then they would be taking the risk of having to admit that progress in understanding human interactions might lead to the development of an exact science of ethics.

Every particle in the universe is part of the universe, and we're made up of the same particles that make up suns at the other edge of the universe.

we are made of eternal matter/energy.
I'm old.

a diverse group of people: people that believe we have an immortal soul, those that somehow seek transcendence of one sort or another, etc., etc.

(Personally ... when you die, you're dead. I miss his barb, but I also allow for resurrection, which would be God--not obligatorily part of the physical universe-- taking the person similarly out from under the constraints of the physical universe.)

With gravity shared between parallel universes and all that, but it doesn't change the fact that matter is matter, living or not.

Quite literally, as everything not made up of hydrogen was cooked in stellar furnaces. So ancient religions are correct in saying that everything around us was formed from the corpse of an ancient, vast being that died long ago. :hi:

I'm part of a chronosynclastic infundibulum.

But, as it is, bullets go right through me.