Questioning a commonly-held belief

Occasionally, we question commonly-held beliefs, like the Ebay myth. Well, this time I'd like to question the following typical advice for writers:

"When writing, your text should sound conversational. Read aloud what you write, and toss out anything that doesn't flow. Simplify, for clarity's sake."

This is rubbish, for the following reasons:

1. Writing should challenge and stimulate the mind. Conversational writing, with it's familiar phrases, just puts the reader to sleep. It's too comforting ... your brain goes on auto-pilot as your eyes soak in the familiar use of words.
2. Does Shakespeare flow? Seriously -- is that really how people spoke back then? Or did he use English to paint a picture with words, and create quotable and conversational dialog? I wonder if this would have been acceptable to the so-called experts at writer's conventions, who keep their Elements of Style in their back pocket, wary of breaking verbal rules.
3. Simplifying a sentence may clarify, but it also tends to eliminate poetic turns of phrases. Inexperienced writers are encouraged to avoid such wordy attempts. Isn't this throwing the baby out with the bathwater? Writers should be encouraged to experiment, fail, and try again. It's the only way you GROW as a writer.
4. In truth, the whole notion of simplifying and eliminating what doesn't flow is a reflection of our dumbed-down society ... and that we seemingly have no time to read.
5. If every writer strives to write conversationally ... then the variety of written works will diminish.
   

I'm just sayin'.

***

On a side-note, I highly recommend reading interesting works, as it exercises the mind and breaks the humdrum pattern of our on-the-go-drive-thru-instantaneous existence.