For me, it is definitely worth the effort. But I didn't try to learn it all at once, so it didn't feel like that much of an effort. I got good enough at first, then as I kept using it and found something I was doing repeatedly, I'd figure out the easier "vim way" to do it. Over the years all those little improvements has made me able to edit code far more quickly than I could possibly do with another editor.

I agree that we spend far more time thinking about code than we do editing it, but being fluent in vim means that when I have the code in my mind, or I decide how I want to refactor something, I can get those ideas out with very little effort. If you reduce the friction of translating thoughts into code, it means you can spend more time thinking about the code instead of futzing about with an editor. Once you get good with vim, it _reduces_ your cognitive load. I know that from the outside all these tricks and tips seem like random jibberish, and impossible to remember, but when you live inside the vim bubble it really does make sense. You find the tricks that fit your mind and your work the best. They quickly become muscle memory and you don't think about the keys at all.

That said, it _is_ a cult. I've seen cool features in other editors, and I've tried to use them, but it always feels like I'm typing with mittens on my hands. And I come crawling back to vim.