I think I read somewhere about Erdős having this somewhat brute force approach. Whenever fresh techniques were developed (by himself or others), he would go back to see if they could be used on one of his long-standing open questions.
Paradoxically, as a parent I find the notion that humans are blank slates completely false. Babies come with a tremendous amount of pre-programmed behaviors and interests.
I think I read somewhere about Erdős having this somewhat brute force approach. Whenever fresh techniques were developed (by himself or others), he would go back to see if they could be used on one of his long-standing open questions.