What are the benifits of learning F#?

I hear so much hype about F#. What makes functional programming so great? Is it really worth leaning?

From stackoverflow

• Makes you think about programming differently than the other languages so.

• 1. Able to scale to multiple cpu because of being functional.
  2. Easy to prove a function is correct, because of no side effects.
  3. F# is backed by a rich corporation.

  You should also look into OCaml, Haskell.

• This question has already been asked:
  why-should-a-net-developer-learn-F#
  learning-functional-programming

• Remember F# is not a purely functional language, naturally this trade-off is necessary to have it work with the .Net framework.

  Dave Berk : I'd consider it a point in its favor. There's no reason to lock yourself into one specific paradigm.

• While not used in industry as much, functional languages will, in essence, "expand your mind" with regard to programming. They tend to rely heavily on recursion and make you focus on scope and functions themselves differently.

  It's kind of like comparing Buddhism with Taoism. At the end of the day they both give you a similar outlook on life, but the unique insights of both will help you realize more about the world.

• F# was created, as well as erlang and haskell, to solve a specific problem. No, if you are not interested in the problem it solves you don't need to learn it. I remember first getting into computers, it was easy to know everything. Now days, it's impossible to know everything well so if you aren't curious and are not faced with a problem that can be solved with F#, focus on your skillset and improve it so you can better the community in your area of expertise. That's the goal everyone should attain.