Well, they did ask

So part of my college is to participate in discussions... and answer discussion questions...
This week's topic is creation, the flood, afterlife, and apocalypse.  I liked my answer to the question so much I decided to post it here... enjoy:

What cultural purposes does the creation of myth serve?

This question appears to have a possible dual meaning.  It may have the meaning of myth is created, but in light of this week’s topic, I am led to believe it may also mean creation is myth.  I cannot presume to determine which rendition is intended, so I will attempt to answer both questions.  Myth does not have a design or purpose, but rather an impact on culture.  Purpose gives the impression that it was intended to have a global, from the perspective of its founders, impact.  Myth has its roots in theories of creation or origin of the universe.  There is within the soul a quest to understand from where it began.  Theories grow into stories, and stories are shared with friends and family.  These stories lose the memory of once being theories and become perpetuated as fact without proof. And so it is that myths are born and shape or at least reflect the norms and values of a culture.

The converse is much like the former, but to ask ‘what cultural purposes does the myth of creation serve?’ asserts that creation is myth, which can not be proven, and in turn takes a theory and purposes to perpetuate it into a fact.  This is exactly how myths are born and is therefore a self defeating question.  Secondly, a culture may have a purpose of making a myth out of creation in order to perpetuate said culture and dismantle the belief of creation within that culture.  Throughout this course, creation is condemned as a fairy tale.  I do not presume to attempt to persuade or proselytize.  I simply assert the validity of my observations.  

Ultimately, I can not be certain which reading of the question was intended.  I can only hope that in providing answers to both, the question intended was answered.