> Especially not when they work a 9-5 job which pays the same regardless of being a 1x or 10x.
This is a failure of forethought on their part. It's true that their _current_ job might not pay more for that knowledge, but it absolutely pays off in their career and during interviews as they develop their professional network and people begin to recognize them as a source of in-depth knowledge.
That was exactly my point: not everyone cares about that.
For many (most?) people the main factor in life is happiness. If you like your job, and it pays good enough, then why invest all the work into a future job that may pay better?
Also, there are many factors that come into play during interviews. How well you are able to combine complex Vim commands to shave 10 seconds of a particular task is probably very, very low down the list of competences the interviewer is looking for.
Not that I would blame anyone for settling into a life where you CRUD from 8:30 to 5:00, then go home and enjoy your life. There are many jobs out there that are more interesting and better paying with the exact same quality of life trade-offs. If anything, I've found that more challenging workplaces hire people who are more interesting to be around.
Before assigning failure to other people’s beliefs, you should examine your own assumptions. Not everyone views life success through the lens of career.
This is a failure of forethought on their part. It's true that their _current_ job might not pay more for that knowledge, but it absolutely pays off in their career and during interviews as they develop their professional network and people begin to recognize them as a source of in-depth knowledge.