You don't have to mainly identify as a profession in order to practice it, and I suspect as we improve work life balance, we wont in general.
I think it's a shame if someone quits the profession because they think they need to keep up with people who might or might not be delivering actual business value.
For the most part I work rather normal hours now-- but occasionally I branch out and build stuff in my free time. I agree that it's not necessary and I could maintain my normal job in development without it. But I've also been able to parlay my hobby coding into new positions or profitable side work. It has given me more confidence and freedom.
Plenty of my co-workers don't build things on their own time. But as such I'm much more likely to be given the more interesting and challenging projects. I also likely have better job security. There are lots of benefits to being one of the crazy ones building fiber networks in your basement.