Do you think pair programmers are literally bashing the keyboard simultaneously?
Your point, as I read it, wasn't that "only programmers do pair programming". That's as trite as "only surgeons do pair surgery" or "only aviators do pair aviation", because it includes the profession. It's that only programmers doing any kind of assigning two minds to cooperatively navigate one problem space, which is demonstrably false.
that's how the article and other articles define it: two people sitting at the same machine writing code. what is your definition?
my point was indeed: what other industry practices "pair <work or implementation>" on the same task?
and why would it be the second? we're literally talking about pair programming here, not just cooperative work.
plus this: pair programming has only been studied / proven to work in a teaching environment, where one student is literally teaching the other and bringing them up to speed.
i don't know of any study that proves that it works in a professional setting with experienced people having more or less the same background, working on the same task
if there is any study, i would like to read it.
for both pilots and surgeons, no one is doing the same job at the same time. pilots and surgeons, when performing on the same flight or surgery, have different roles, and it's actually extremely important that they stick to and abide by those roles. you know, because it's high-stakes stuff.
however, before and after the flights or surgeries (akin to design or planning in software), or perhaps during sticky situations or emergencies (akin to debugging in software), or during post-flight or surgery reviews (akin to code reviews) they do work together on the same thing. during the sticky situation, emergency, or debugging stage, that thing is the emergency at hand. once it's dealt with, the separate, individual roles are assumed.
so thanks for your examples, as they just serve to further my point.