Yet another quasi-philosophical rant about music.

Well, you're used to them by now if you've read the page before.

Yes you are.

So, now that I have it, I can offer a little explanation as to why I have so much pseudo-philosophical nonsense to spout. Then I'll talk some more nonsense.

So, everything is a learning curve, right?
And there's no upper limit to the curve. With some things the curve shallows, some things it steepens.
However, some people are further up the curve than you.
So lets talk about music. If you want to write music, and you want to write GOOD music, then you need to be quite far up the curve. You need to know what you're doing. Writing something that sounds like you know what you're doing, is one thing. Writing something that's a hit is far harder still.

I want to write really really good music. And I'm not naive enough to believe that "all i need is this, that and the other, and then i just need to sit and experiment until I get it". Bullshit. Equipment won't give you talent. Experimentation won't teach any secrets within a short period of time. Experience moves you up the curve. And hard work. The two are good friends.
I need to compete with people who have ten years more experience writing music than I do.
I can't buy, steal or imitate that experience. So, what I have to do is attempt to make the experience that I do get, as valuable as possible. I need to learn from everything I do, and I need to learn well.

Also, making music is fundamentally about listening to music.
If you disagree with me on this, then you're wrong, and your music sucks, and it always will.

So, it makes sense that one has to listen to music, listen to their own music, analyse what's going on, extrapolate from that as far as possible, reason about it, and form ideas.
This seems to me to be a natural way to accelerate movement up the learning curve.
It feels like a natural extension of 'doing your homework' and 'self-assessment' when studying anything else.

So, that's the why.