Bright But Stubborn

No. Not that!

"So the sarcasm didn't work either?", she asked.

"Not even in combination with the compelling data. Any suggestions on how to proceed?"

"I guess the one that comes first to mind is similar input from an unrelated source."

She was right, of course. Human mind, a fascinating mechanism … at least, it is to the two of them.  And odd that a learned man whose decades old business is reliant on effective communication goes into a social isolation when the issue of the mind's role in communications comes up. His internal code name was Angry Professor, though the man had a very engaging smile.

The chorus of voices singing a subtle tune was starting to work. Just as the machine and the soup were saying it would.  Cutting-edge.  He liked the sound of the overused but highly descriptive phrase.

Next step, discover the synchronous point of greatest leverage. The field will self organize and propagate at near optimal speed and efficiency if the pulse is timed in such a way.

The tide is predictable as are other durable rhythms, explicit and subtle. Test the obstacle's resonance to such vibrations.  Chances are the effect will be confined to the obstacle without much change to its immediate environment.