In a way this allows one of the pair to be in near mode (understanding the concrete concepts and examples) and the other in far mode (how does this match up with our grand picture).

I've never had the opportunity to do pair programming, and although I was willing to try it I didn't quite see how it'd provide a qualitative advantage over code review. This explanation helps a lot, thank you. Even if it's not the full picture, it's certainly made me more motivated to try it.