I've noticed a tendency for hackers to assume that practical solutions to real world problems are theoretical, and then try to pick holes in them, forgetting that if the solution is already implemented and in place, then it probably works just fine.
You would be surprised to know how many nobel prize winners do that.
OTOH, one could argue that pursuing a seemingly trivial improvement to an existing solution could - by serendipity - lead to a breakthrough that actually does solve other problems as well. But I'd guess that, on balance, there's a greater payoff for spending time on something besides incremental tweaks to existing solutions. But that's just a guess...