Read the following passage and questions, then choose the right answer from options, the answer should be one of A, B, C, D.

<passage>:
up in neat rows like pins in a paper. Maybe we were so blind we missed the path altogether." "But the book is due! The Conference speech—" presentation of ideas, as it stands. Very austere and authoritarian. And when he saw what he had done, with all his might and main laughed out of existence. There won't be any Authority in psionics for "Get a pad, get a pencil! We've got work to do. And when we finish, I "Why?" "Are you frightened?" "No. Oh, no!" "Then what?" "You think that monitor is for, don't you?" "It stops things from going out." "That's right. And it stops things from going in. It's an insulator. ?" deal with this morning—the one who's threatening to upset the whole Conference next month with some crazy theories he's been playing with. I'll probably have to take him out to the Farm to shut him up." Lessing "Certainly! And Jack—in this case, be sure of it. If Tommy's in the trouble I think he's in, we don't dare risk a chance of Adult Contact International Psionics Conference: Dear Dr. Lessing: In recognition of your position as an authority on human Psionic speaker at the Conference in Chicago on October 12th. A few remarks in discussion of your forthcoming book would be entirely in order— They were waiting for it, then! He ran the galley proofs into the Theory of Psionic Influence on Infant and Child Development." A good title—concise, commanding, yet modest. They would read it, all right. that this great and powerful force did indeed exist in human minds, made no sense, observing things that defied logic. Natural laws came old rules didn't work here, the old methods of study failed. And the became— theory to work by— the office in awe. "I'm really overwhelmed," he said after a moment. "Within the "Oh, it's just that I'm impressed," the young man said airily. "Of course, I've seen old dried-up Authorities before—but never before a brand spanking new one, just fresh out of the pupa, so to speak!" He touched his forehead in a gesture of reverence. "I bow before the Oracle. Speak, oh Motah, live forever! Cast a pearl at my feet!" just wasting time." He reached for the intercom switch. "I think you'd better wait before you do that," Melrose said sharply, "because I'm planning to take you apart at the Conference next month unless I like everything I see and hear down here today. And if you don't think I can do it, you're in for quite a dumping." "I want to hear this fairy tale you're about to publish in the name of Authority about." There was no laughter in the man's sharp brown eyes. "You couldn't touch me with a ten foot pole at this conference," snapped Lessing. we happen to have a staggering body of evidence that says that it's "If the papers you've already published are a preview, we think it's "And our controls are above suspicion." "Oh, yes—I've heard about your work. Not bad, really. A little "According to your Theory, that is." "I've got 'til New Year." used conventional statistical analysis on your data from up here." to measure didn't make sense in a statistical analysis." "And you don't know why all. It's not inconceivable that the children might be measuring the theory on." or another, for centuries. The fact that it doesn't seem to be bound by the same sort of natural law we've observed elsewhere doesn't mean that it isn't governed by natural law. But how can we define the law? How can we define the limits of the phenomenon, for that matter? We can't to have a working hypothesis to "For a working hypothesis—yes. We've known for a long time that every human being has extrasensory potential to one degree or another. Not quality of the human mind. Just as the ability to think logically in a crisis instead of giving way to panic is a differentiating quality." prove more powerful and active in infants and children than in adults. Somewhere along the line as a child grows up, something happens. We don't know what. We do know that the child's psi-potential gradually have the Farm—to try to discover why. What forces that potential "We think we might be near an answer. We have a theory that explains substance, connected to a simple pocket-sized power source. "As far as we can measure, yes." Jack Dorffman burst in: "What Dr. Lessing is saying is that they seem effective for our purposes." heavy use. The place was teeming with youngsters, all shouting in a fury of busy activity. Occasionally a helmeted supervisor hurried by top-ranking curriculum—your idea of a 'country day school' wasn't where they can develope what potential they have— without the presence of external psionic influences they would normally be subject they are all empirical instruments, and they would all defy any engineer's attempts to determine what makes them go. We don't know what makes them go, and we don't care—they go. That's all we need. Like activity. "Those three seem to work as a team, somehow. Each one, individually, the arbitrary scale we find useful here. Any two of them scale in at somewhere in the neighborhood of six hundred on the same scale." of place.... jaw. "You think that it's adult psi-contact that drives the child's potential underground—that somehow adult contact acts like a damper, a down." faith, that we have data that flatly contradicts everything you've told According to the things I am certain are true, what you're saying is sheer nonsense." "And you'd express that opinion in a professional meeting?" "I would." "And as an Authority on psionic behavior patterns," said Melrose what danger you're in? If you publish your book now, you will become an Authority in a field where the most devastating thing that could the appearance of an Authority ." to throw them off and keep going." from any other, Jack. It doesn't follow the rules. Maybe scientific grounds aren't right at all, in this case." "He wasn't objecting to the theory. He's afraid of what happens after the theory." "So it seems. But why?" "Have you ever considered what makes a man an Authority?" "He knows more about his field than anybody else does." "He seems to, you mean. And therefore, anything he says about it carries more weight than what anybody else says. Other workers follow his lead. He developes ideas, formulates theories—and then defends them for all he's worth ." "But why shouldn't he?" "Because a man can't fight for his life and reputation and still keep his objectivity," said Lessing. "And what if he just happens to be wrong? Once he's an Authority the question of what's right and what's wrong gets lost in the shuffle. It's what he says that counts." "But we know you're right," Dorffman protested. "Do we?" "Of course we do! Look at our work! Look at what we've seen on the "What happened?" the hand. "Do you know who I am?" "Why do you hurt?" an animal instinctively seeks its own protection sense of warmth—peace and security and comfort—swept in as the fear Dorffman stared at it angrily. "It's obviously wrong," he grated. "It doesn't fit. Dave, it doesn't agree with "Of course," said Lessing. "According to the theory. The theory says that adult psi-contact is deadly to the growing child. It smothers their potential through repeated contact until it dries up completely. ? What do you want with an instrument reading?" He shook his we'd never counted on. It's something the theory just doesn't allow for." They sat silently for a while. Then Dorffman said: "What are you going to do?"

<question>:
What is the significance of the idea of authority?

<options>:
A It is the only way Dr. Lessing will get enough traction to publish his book
B It is the only thing that drives Dr. Melrose and his goals
C It is one of many concerns the scientists have surrounding their research
D It is the deciding factor in who gets to speak at the major conference

<answer>:

C