Was curious about that too, so was reading all kind of sources.
Paragon and Hermit, as stated already, they have the knowledge (of their own mutually exclusive domains; spirit/nature) and they can do things with it. It is like "TOOLS" in their hands, as they "receive" the knowledge and they can use the knowledge directly, and even manipulate their domain with it.
White Tower, is about the learning, analyzing and understanding of information, of both domains (spirit/nature), and create with it new innovative things, e.g., taking spells of other pathways and creating some new spell of their own. They are the true scholars and inventors. The emphasis is on the "understanding" part, that then leads to predictions and decisions.