Language is a many-splendored thing. When used effectively, it is a tool that allows for the communication of thoughts and preferences like no other known to humans since the beginning of civilization. In fact, language is what allows us to enter into social contracts, or be "civilized," from the start. Without it, we would be lost in a world unto ourselves. With it, this world is expanded to include everything around us.
Knowledge of language allows for our ideas to be expressed instead of frustratedly withdrawn. Think of the toddler who wants a new toy; communicating this desire to someone who can help her acquire that toy is an effective way of meeting her needs. Conversely, were she not able to express her ideas, she would become frustrated to a degree unlike any other, except possibly when it is five minutes past two o'clock and one wants to order EBAs. Countless relationships between individuals or groups have failed because of such frustration, often stemming from a lack of ability, not desire, to communicate. In essence, all of our ideas are like toys on a shelf, and we are all like toddlers. Our success in meeting the various needs we will encounter throughout life, whether internal or external, will be directly proportional to our ability to take control of our ideas effectively.
However, language is not simply a one-dimensional tool of utility. Another entire set of options lies ready to be explored if it is used not just effectively, but creatively. The world is not an objective edifice, and should not be treated as such, for anything objective can only be seen in one light while the poignant spoken or written word can be interpreted in an infinite number of ways. In this way, works of literature, from Plato to Hemingway, are inherently more valuable than any scientific manual. Great poems and novels always mean different things to different people. Organic chemistry has never made anyone feel anything besides sleep deprivation.
When used creatively, language can be an inventor of emotion in humans. It can be manipulated to suit just about any need or produce a number of effects. e. e. cummings felt that punctuation and capitalization should stay in textbooks; Thoreau didn't think we needed textbooks at all. Hemingway didn't care. About sentence structure. He was busy. None of this would be apparent to us, nor could any of the aforementioned writers' works truly be enjoyed if rules of grammar, or more directly the rules of society, were held in high esteem in every instance. Language is an aid to reason, but it should not be bound by it. Even da Vinci kept extensive journals, describing to a lesser extent his scientific ideas than his own feelings on his work.
The true greatness of language, however, lies not in using it either to express our ideas effectively or express ourselves creatively; it lies in reconciling the two. Creative work would not be aesthetically pleasing without the skill to choose the right words and place them accordingly, nor would expressing ideas be as effective if those ideas have no hint of originality. A great misdeed occurs, and quite prolifically, when someone uses the written word to convey ideas that he feels his audience would be akin to. In these cases, whose ideas is the writer expressing? He may as well simply let his audience write for him, because in effect all he is doing is recycling their ideals. On the contrary, the use of language is a most fulfilling endeavor when an individual comes up with ideas that he can identify as his own, ignoring the potential for his work to be celebrated by anyone but himself.
This is not to say that what some would deem to be blatant misuse of language is appropriate. Like any tool, language can be used as a weapon. Groundless attacks on people, groups or standing institutions for myopic comedic value are often times more hurtful or even annoying than worthwhile. I believe that everyone's First Amendment rights should, without question, be upheld. However, using language as a means to the ends of stereotyping or attacking another can very easily be construed as an admission that one has nothing worthwhile to say.
The greatest of ideas have never come strictly from the mind, nor the heart. Rather, they have come from a combination of the two. The development of ideas throughout history, along with that of civilization, has been directly proportional to that of language. It is the most useful and versatile entity that humankind has, and should be recognized as such.
