He started off well but he didn't take his analysis far enough. It's not just a matter of being ignorant of constraints so that a problem appears easier to an outside smart observer. Many smart people I know are just better at restructuring themselves so that some problems no longer appear as problems or impinge enough on their thoughts to distract them from other tasks, i.e. they are in essence fooling themselves into believing the problem doesn't exist or they put enough stopgaps into place so that the problem doesn't interfere with their day to day activities enough to require a total solution. Another reason I think is that most smart people are better able to tolerate stress and general mental drain so to totally invest themselves into solving some problem they require a higher threshold of mental anguish or whatever it is that drives people to solve problems.