"well, the important thing is that you think hard about it" might not mean what you think it means. Often, especially (in my experience) when communicated to s

"well, the important thing is that you think hard about it" might not mean what you think it means. Often, especially (in my experience) when communicated to someone in an engineering profession, that's an exhortation to not automatically assume the applicability of the listener's pre-existing ethical/methodological frameworks to the problem at hand. In other words, to consider something with minimized bias. Bias isn't always bigotry or a tendency towards specific solutions--it can also manifest as a pre-disposition towards previous "one-size-fits-all" deontological tools, which do apply to many situations, but may not yield comprehension, empathy, or minimized negative consequence when applied to a given problem. Examples: 1. Engineer: "I was asked if it's possible to build $intrusive_privacy_invading_product so I provided an answer by building it". Critic: "Could you construct it in a way that harms to privacy are minimized?" A mis-chosen framework there might be "exercising craftsmanship or capability is its own reward", or absolute meritocracy. 2. Liberal: "Gun ownership is harmful therefore should be banned." Critic: "Can you accomplish your goal in a way that allows people that genuinely enjoy guns to continue to do so? Your approach risks polarization at best and outright failure at worst." A mis-chosen framework there might be utilitarianism, or "short term political ends are the primary focus". 3. Conservative: "Regulations are bad, because they inherently restrict liberty." Critic: "Are some liberties more important than others? Your approach risks throwing out the baby with the bathwater." Mis-chosen frameworks there might be focus on influential historical figures' political realities, or individualism. None of the frameworks chosen above are bad, inherently flawed (by their own moral compasses, of course), or inapplicable. However, they might be less useful as decisionmaking tools than some others. Nobody can step all the way outside of their chosen deontology (can you use that as a noun? I hope so), but often people who ask that you "just take time to think" are requesting you to at least try.