I'm not a part of the subculture, but every time I go down the rabbit hole of the discussion boards I get the impression it's one with crazy levels of dedication, and one that draws very particular kind of mathematics & programmer types of minds (honestly, it's a lot of fun to see them geek out over it every time I do, even if I can't follow 90% of what they're saying).

So my best guess is: a mixture of mathematics, brute force searching, and lots of passionate on-line discussion with fellow nerds.