Chapter XI 



WORLD BUILDING 



We have an intricate task before us. We are going to 

 build a World — a physical world which will give a 

 shadow performance of the drama enacted in the world 

 of experience. We are not very expert builders as yet; 

 and you must not expect the performance to go off 

 without a hitch or to have the richness of detail which a 

 critical audience might require. But the method about 

 to be described seems to give the bold outlines; doubt- 

 less we have yet to learn other secrets of the craft of 

 world building before we can complete the design. 



The first problem is the building material. I remem- 

 ber that as an impecunious schoolboy I used to read 

 attractive articles on how to construct wonderful con- 

 trivances out of mere odds and ends. Unfortunately 

 these generally included the works of an old clock, a 

 few superfluous telephones, the quicksilver from a 

 broken barometer, and other oddments which happened 

 not to be forthcoming in my lumber room. I will try 

 not to let you down like that. I cannot make the world 

 out of nothing, but I will demand as little specialised 

 material as possible. Success in the game of World 

 Building consists in the greatness of the contrast 

 between the specialised properties of the completed 

 structure and the unspecialised nature of the basal 

 material. 



Relation Structure. We take as building material rela- 

 tions and relata. The relations unite the relata; the 

 relata are the meeting points of the relations. The one 



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