To view the revised Introduction Version 2, link from here. You will have to page all the way to the end of the new Introduction which can then link you to the last page of the original version of the Introduction. I apologize for any inconvenience. I did not want to wait any longer before providing these comments on the source of new information in the Short Model.

n the "real" world, I am an engineer. People pay me to figure out solutions to problems, design new systems, create new things. One principle of engineering design which I consider of great importance is that all of the pieces must fit together. This may strike you as obvious and trite and you should be right. However, the number of instances in which engineering designs fail because of the violation of this principle is so great that it should never be considered as trivial. I believe that this principle should also have applicability to personal life and beliefs. Particularly about the nature of reality.

ne of the common themes of religious instruction which I have observed from my childhood is the asking of questions which can be generalized as: If God (or insert your favorite variant of the name for the Ultimate Reality) has the property "X", how can He (or insert your favorite variant defining gender or the absence of such attributes) permit occurrence "Y" to have happened in the world? Even as a child, I felt that the true nature of God was such that questions like this didn't really make sense.

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   Copyright 2002,3 by Ted Vollers