while consciousness lacks a center and lacks a self

But then again perhaps no thing has ever struck me at all.

But to add a little more substance - your theory is something we all learn is probably false at around two-three weeks after birth if I remember correctly. Somewhere around that time we discover object permanence, and start understanding that the rest of the world keeps existing even when we're not aware of it: it's all a real thing, not a product of our consciousness.

It's especially strange to put consciousness in charge of creating the whole world when it isn't even involved in half the stuff happening in our own bodies.

how do you know there is a world outside?

and not phenomena arising within your conscious experience?

if you close your eyes, you will find a consciousness without end

open your eyes

& these very words arise within your conscious experience

and when you close your eyes, only consciousness remains

Of course, since I can't observe anything except what I'm observing right now, I could conclude that I'm creating those observations. But I have noticed time and time again that the world largely looks like the same whether I observe it or not. Also, occasionally things that I didn't observe suddenly happen to me, in a way which is consistent only with them having originated outside myself (for example, a ball hits me in the back of the head).

Either way, if you're claiming I'm just a figment of your imagination, this conversation really makes very little sense, and of course there is no proof I can bring that would convince you. The existence of a world independent of our own minds is a pre-requisite for any meaningful conversation.

could you somehow test this belief?