Real-Life Decision Making -- Solution
You go to the meeting and tell the investors what your company wants them to hear.
One of the things that you learned about seismology early on is that not every answer is clear-cut. Since the science of seismology is relatively young, there are times when your best judgment and interpretation of the facts are as good as it gets.
That's the thought that keeps coming to mind as you try to make the decision about what to tell the investors. While you're not sure that there won't be a problem if you drill in some of the prospective sites, you're also not sure there will be a problem. And the only way to really find out is to drill there.
Given the information that you know about earthquakes, it's your personal hypothesis that drilling near the fault lines will likely have no effect on the environment. You can't tell if drilling will produce or increase earthquakes, so after a lot of thought you decide to tell the investors what they want to hear.
You look at this as a chance to further investigate what causes earthquakes. At the meeting, you tell the investors that there is no conclusive evidence that the drilling will cause earthquakes. And that isn't really a lie since there is no conclusive evidence either way.
Unfortunately, you were betting on a bad deal. The investors approve the drilling sites, they invest their money into the drilling and it does create an earthquake. You're lucky that it is a minor quake and no one is hurt.
Now you have to find a new job. And finding a job after this might be tough.