There is a vast gulf between learning and using. The original poster obviously enjoys learning new things: he posts on the Clojure mailing list, and hints that

There is a vast gulf between learning and using. The original poster obviously enjoys learning new things: he posts on the Clojure mailing list, and hints that he has learned bits and pieces of Haskell. That places him early in the adoption curve. But when you want a language to get things done (one you can "use"), work from a comfort zone - start with a steady base, and branch out to unfamiliar topics. Some people are comfortable finding and reading academic papers as part of their workflow, and others aren't. That's their preference. Other parts of your time should be spent the opposite way: start at the unfamiliar, and make it familiar. But it's not pragmatic to always work like this.