Agreed on not just doing it for the money, but learning for the sake of learning can be very rewarding and valuable.<p>I'm a marketer, but I consider myself a technical one. I taught myself HTML and CSS years ago, picked up some JS, learned quite a bit of Ruby and RoR, some database stuff, and genuinely enjoy learning about computers and how they work.<p>I don't use the bulk of it in my day-to-day, but knowing how to break down a problem into individual components, and more importantly, knowing the scope of what is possible with technology, has been a huge benefit for me (particularly on the analytics side of things).<p>I'm learning guitar now after having been pretty decent at clarinet when I was younger. It is humbling, and a slog, but it is making me think about music in new ways, and now I'll never look at a talented guitar player again and think "yeah, that looks easy, anyone can do it" when I know I physically can't stretch my fingers to play half those chords yet.<p>Learning a new discipline, even just the basics, is often enough to expand your world view, give you newfound respect for those that are experts, and can help you grow as a person. Being a "Renaissance Man" is something a lot of people have given up on but an idea I still think has quite a bit of merit.