I suspect it comes from when engineers try to problem solve with non-engineers. At the very least I've been in the room a few times when this happened. The en

I suspect it comes from when engineers try to problem solve with non-engineers. At the very least I've been in the room a few times when this happened. The engineer says a few things. The non-engineer suggests something outside their wheel house. The engineer explains why it won't work or would be too expensive to work. Non-engineer accuses engineers of living in a colorless world without imagination. The black and white thinking accusation is similar to the 50-50 chance of winning the lottery (either you do or you don't). That is, engineers only say if something can work or won't work so they're black and white. It kind of misses the nuance in what's happening.