The other question is whether it’s helpful to quickly look for obvious answers when there isn’t one. The information content of “there is a solution” is actually not only one bit (yes vs no), because the fact that that person told it to you means that they solved it quickly using techniques that they already know about. This usually helps you because you either share much of their knowledge, or have an idea of what things they are knowledgeable about. The correct advice in some other cases might have been “you need to learn something else completely new before you’ll get it” or “just stop trying because this problem is really of no value and has no easy answer”.
The other question is whether it’s helpful to quickly look for obvious answers when there isn’t one. The information content of “there is a solution” is actually not only one bit (yes vs no), because the fact that that person told it to you means that they solved it quickly using techniques that they already know about. This usually helps you because you either share much of their knowledge, or have an idea of what things they are knowledgeable about. The correct advice in some other cases might have been “you need to learn something else completely new before you’ll get it” or “just stop trying because this problem is really of no value and has no easy answer”.