Why do we need to read?

A silly question. It's for the same reason we need to breathe.

But some people can't read. And lots of people who can read don't even bother to. Am I saying they do not breathe?

No, but I like to think of reading as an "acquired necessity."

It's like an acquired taste like wine or cheese, but once it enters your life, you find that you can no longer live without it, and you wonder how you ever existed before it...

I guess in a lot of ways, Love is an acquired necessity as well.