The pace of learning with Software programming

Personally I believe to be a fast learning individual. But sometimes innovation (like being uptodate with all specs of Mashup APIs ) and its steadiy growing demand for scholary idleness through intensive apprehension of contents and logics can go somewhat beyond my willingness. Because we are still working and money earning individuals, that thrive on a certain degree of routine, don`t we all? Should every programmer have to be an assistant professor with life-long compensation for thinking and progression? There are moments when the Cosmopolitan greed in me is saturated then for a blink of my eye (ha!) and the villager in me says "Hey, let`s have a beer"...