You make an interesting point. I once worked with someone who was brilliant, but had gotten into the field via a math degree, and we were building an enterprise

You make an interesting point. I once worked with someone who was brilliant, but had gotten into the field via a math degree, and we were building an enterprise-software product. We tried pair-programming, and he cracked within a few minutes. He couldn't articulate his thought processes verbally. Sounds similar to the scenario you're describing.