One can usually be consistent and still have a choice of interpretations, the more so when data are sparse. The interpreter should explore various possibilities, but usually only one interpretation is wanted, that which offers the greatest possibilities for significant profitable hydrocarbon accumulation (assuming this is the objective). An interpreter must be optimistic, that is, he must find the good possibilities. The optimistic interpretation is often preferable to the "most probable", because the former will probably cause additional work to be done to test (and perhaps modify) the interpretation, whereas a nonoptimistic interpretation may result in abandoning the area. Management is usually tolerant of optimistic interpretations that are disproved by subsequent work, but failing to recognize a possibility is an "unforgivable sin". It should be noted that "success" or "failure", that is, finding or failing to find hydrocarbons in commercial quantity, is often a poor test of interpretation because many factors critical to commercial accumulations cannot be predicted from seismic data. It may also be noted that an optimistic interpretation is not always what is sought. In engineering and coal seismic work, for example, one is apt to want to know the worst possible case so that these eventualities can be investigated further.