[sunkencity]

>However, the 1x coder ignores the problem, or declares it unsolvable.

Haven't we seen that before? It's usually solvable within 5 minutes. And so true, if you want to become a good programmer, never give up trying to solve a problem, and don't wait for your seniors to solve it for you, because you will never develop the skills needed to solve the problem yourself that way.

[mistermann]

Precisely. Some people never seem to get past a certain skill level because they don't have the ambition to get pissed off and figure out how something really works.

[kragen]

Spending N hours on a problem that's very difficult to solve is often worse than deciding to find a way to avoid solving it. There are N₂ examples in my history where I solved a problem that was much harder than necessary — or spent a lot of time trying, then failed — when I should have just stepped back to ask if it was worth it.