I have been a Python developer since 2006/2007 and every time I depart to another community for a while, I return with a ton of new ways to think about problems. Not only that, you'll usually have a newfound appreciation for things in Python you might not have really cared about before (eg decorator syntax)
- Becoming a Rails developer was a game changer. The Pythonistas tout it to be 'magic', but it's really not. It's easy to understand what is going on. Once you use a tool like Rails in more advanced situations – every Python web framework looks like a horse drawn carriage.
- On a related note, reading Eloquent Ruby was one of the most epic nonfiction reading experiences of my life. After reading that book, I rarely see "programming magic" to be magic anymore. I understand it all. A lot of the knowledge from that book translates well to Python too, since Python and Ruby are very similar.
- Learning Clojure and using it day-to-day at FarmLogs has made me think more functional than I did previously.
It's usually not just the language that is going to open your mind - but the frameworks, tools and communities that grow around the language. It's like visiting a new country. You're gonna love certain customs and dislike others.
Anyway... saying you don't have time for something that will open your mind and make you a better programmer sounds like a grumpy old man who's missing out on the world.
So, yes, learning is good. But we are still finite beings with limited time. Having priorities about what you will spend your time learning, and choosing Elixir to not be one of those priorities, is a legitimate stance. Thanks for sharing.
Whether you use the other language doesn't mean there is no benefit to learning it
This is a very limiting view of the programming space and world in general, hopefully with time you will understand that learning a new language will only help you to get better in your old language. You don't need to invest years in a new language to get the gist of it.