I have learned quite a bit of C++ console programming in college (got my associates degree in it for CS). I am learning Windowz Visual programming now on my own. I have been playing around with a book written by Herbert Schildt called Windows 98 Programming from the Ground Up. I am using it to get my feet wet and will move on to better books later. (It was 7.99 at Borders with ~800 pages... can't beat that.)
Still, even with all of this work, I seriously doubt I am going to be a full time programmer. So why am I doing all of this? I am not really sure, but I like to know how things work, and in my quest for programming knowlege (Assembly, C++, VB) and webpage creation (HTML, Js), I have learned more about computers than I ever thought that I would.
So, maybe that is it. Maybe I learn programming to learn other things. Maybe part of knowing how things work is knowing why they work...
What about you...?