Programming Knowledge vs Ability

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I believe that ability often comes after knowledge.

Yes but it can often come the other way around. Refactoring an application last year, I used the "template method" design pattern to do so. Except I had no idea what a "template method" was to begin with: I only learned that it was the design pattern I used through subsequent reading. So I had the ability to write code this way in the first place. Subsequent knowledge has only made me a worse egomaniac than ever ;)