I have asked myself this question a few times - and I think I've come to a complicated conclusion. I think language and consciousness are more intertwined than we think. I am not religious by any stretch of the imagination but I think there's some esoteric wisdom in the idea of God being 'the word'. I'm not convinced that before abstract language there was anything more than reactionary drivers - and that abstraction from the present by language gave us both creativity and imagination. Consciousness is time-travel in our own minds and language is the tool that gets us there - writing is a big part of that - but really we're doing it for the love of the words. That's why we love poetry, we love stories (particularly when they follow formats we instinctively understand) and why we can't help but use language to make sense of the universe and help the universe make sense of us. Or, as is really the case, helping the universe make sense of itself.

You'd think I'd smoke more weed than I do - but alas, this is just my default setting sans narcotics.