Function of conversation?

It is neither one nor the other. Those are 2 of the vast sea of functions of conversation. Sometimes exchanging information is necessary, but I doubt that is the only thing anyone uses conversation for. Though non-verbal connections are much more rapture-inducing, words can also be a means to this feeling. The possibilities are endless.

Do you mean establishing a rapport?

I think that you need to get to the point where the rapport you establish with people allows you to be yourself in a way that is beneficial to both you and the people you’re with. This is so much easier said than done.

And because it’s hard to do, I think it’s more important to have the connection with people that lets you stumble a couple times before getting it right. So I think that rapport might be slightly more important.

I dunno about conversation specifically, but I often like to think of language as a tool to share our dreams.

like most things, it’s not black or white.