... it can often be profitable to try a technique on a problem even if you know in advance that it cannot possibly solve the problem completely.
Terence TaoPointing out that countless great mathematicians had tried to solve the problem and failed before you came along is in particularly bad taste and should be avoided completely.
Terence TaoEducation is a complex, multifaceted, and painstaking process, and being gifted does not make this less so.
Terence Tao