I'm a Fed engineer and spent a 4 mo. assignment on an integrated team with Pivotal pairing exclusively. It was a long 4 months for me. There was no "zone." I'm not built for pairing.
I think pairing can be different for different people. I've often heard people saying that "the zone" comes more easily when pairing. Personally, any zone I'm feeling pairing has a different character from one achieved alone. It's easier to focus on the task at hand (because there's peer pressure).
Sure you do. Two mediocre programmers working as a pair might get 100k each. One elite programmer can clear 7 figures easily. The elite programmer will also have much more control over the IP they create and be able to negotiate much more stringent terms for how it is used.
If you think pair programming is a good idea you are just at the bottom of the industry.
