I have never read a book in my life. I might as well be illiterate, and most people around me might as well be too. Most libraries are vacant, and bookstores are gone. But all these people are doing fine - we put anything down on paper, and despite its incoherence it seems fine by standards that have stooped for reasons I do not know. I can turn in something that makes absolutely no sense, and an instructor from a decent school will tell me that he enjoyed it. Or an instructor won’t enjoy it, but since most people don’t write anything comprehensible anymore I’ll still be fine. I can cruise through my education and get a job while barely having read much at all. Everyone frequents some variant of flimsy entertainment - cable news, cartoons, social media - so why bother trying to read anything worthwhile anyways if nobody else is? Does reading actually make you more curious, more intelligent, more human?
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Notes -
So, uh... I apologize for what is ultimately a somewhat low-effort response, but I can't resist. The answer to your question can be found in this book.
I mean, I don't know that you should, but since you asked the question "why read" I sort of assumed you were interested in an answer. If you have asked the question insincerely (which seems to be the case) then it doesn't especially matter how I answer you. But if you actually want an answer to the question you took the time to ask, then that is why you should read this book, or the one @baj2235 linked below--or indeed, you could perhaps read many different books, and decide for yourself that you've been right all along ("that was indeed a waste of time and effort--I shouldn't read, and I no longer need to ask the question!") or learn something new ("ah--so this is why I should read, I see now").
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