INTRODUCTION 



hypotheses, in competition with other ideas on the 

 same subject and unrelated to one another. On the 

 basis of the arguments presented by the proponents of 

 these different ideas a scientifically valid choice can 

 often not be made — and preference must frequently 

 depend on purely aesthetic and emotional factors. It is 

 because of the unifying overall presentation that the 

 material in this book has the quality of a revolution- 

 arily new and exciting idea. The previously apparently 

 unrelated phenomena, when seen in their proper rela- 

 tionship, begin to take on a significance, novel in its 

 implications. The reader will find, as the presentation 

 unfolds, that the first group of problems mentioned in 

 this introduction will gradually answer themselves, in a 

 fashion that is internally consistent and where the im- 

 plications raised by one solution become additional 

 evidence for the validity of the other answers. 



As for the problem pertaining to the meaning of 

 life, no complete or certain solution should be ex- 

 pected. However, this presentation is able to generate 

 a measure of rationally based hope, as to the eventual 

 answer of these questions. The epilogue of this book 

 closes with an idea, which although essentially specula- 

 tive, is nevertheless arrived at by a reasonable extra- 

 polation of the established concepts. The final vista 

 permits human reason and understanding to penetrate 

 into regions where mystical ideas have formerly held 

 unchallenged sway. The implications of the concepts 



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