Solution Geneva part 5

"Listen!" Sam said above the din. "We fear  everything we know to be true. Unknown truths, especially. But we must not fear the truth. We should be afraid of falsehood and untruth. When we measure things incorrectly, or if we observe phenomena and interpret them incorrectly, we do not change reality. In these situations, we do change our perception of reality and that is the real danger.

"It's not the case the airplanes are falling out of the sky and nuclear reactors are suddenly melting. Except for the usual errors in human behaviour, obviously. But these are not caused by the speed of light suddenly changing or of particles suddenly appearing or disappearing where we have not predicted them to be. Whenever we reach surprising results, we must always allow for a simpler explanation that solves the problem while not minimising the result. In other words, we must come up with answers that are 'as simple as possible and no simpler', to quote Einstein.

"If I miscalculate the orbit of Jupiter by using the incorrect units of measurement, does Jupiter go flying off somewhere into the cosmos? No, obviously it does not. So we must admit that we are measuring something incorrectly. Or, there is a mistake somewhere. But that does not mean that the universe is changing to meet our perceptions. The universe doesn't obey us, it follows its unknown path and we act surprised when we think we know what is coming up next. The universe also doesn't have to be understood by us at all. There must be things we can't possibly understand."

There was a much calmer mood around the table and the attendees in the room were quiet. "Okay," Sam said taking a breath. "We have a few scenarios we can deal with and they should be easy to verify quickly with a minimum of effort. I've listed them here, based on the input from many of you in this room." Samantha tapped for the next slide on her screen and a few bullet points were displayed. She continued, "All we need to do is assign some people to each scenario and equipment cluster and meet back here in a few days to discuss our results. I am confident the problems can be solved and we can get the supercollider back on track to open at 14 TeV again."

There was general agreement and Sam sat down. A project manager stood up and described the project priorities and dates.

Jacques leaned close to Sam and said, "Nice job. I think you stood up to Mathiason, but perhaps you did not do enough about the clocks."

Sam leaned close to Jacques and said, "The clocks can be adjusted. I'm not going to bite the hand that feeds me."

Jacques nodded. After the meeting was over, Jacques escorted Samantha outside to the bus stop. Jacques asked, "You will go to your hôtel then, _non_?"

"_Ouai_," said Sam. "But I must retrieve my luggage from the lost and found. Then I can eat lunch and maybe go sight-seeing."

"Ach," said Jacques. He checked his phone. "I forgot about the bag. I will check the claim information to see if they have found it yet."

Mathiason walked by, waved and approached. "Samantha! Wonderful presentation in there. You've really got a presence up there. I know that you've been doing very valuable work for us, and this is just the latest example."

"Thank you, sir. I believe we can solve the problem and get the projects back on track," Sam said.

"Of course we can," Mathiason said and grabbed her shoulder. "Let's have dinner so that we can discuss more strategy," he said.

Samantha pulled back and wrestled her shoulder free. "No thank you, sir, I need to rest after the flight so that I can be ready to do more reports and meetings tomorrow," she said.

"Nonsense," Mathiason said. "Dinner at half-seven. I'll send a driver to your hotel." Mathiason walked off.

Jacques raised one eyebrow. "_Quoi?_" he asked.

"I guess I have to go," she said.

"I can have my sister attend with you. You have met her before. She works on the LHCb project," he said.

"Yes, Jolie. I remember. Thank you so much, that will make it more comfortable for me," Sam said.

"I see that your baggage claim has been confirmed and we can pick it up. _Alons-y_," Jacques said.