It reminds us that we are here to understand and care about the human condition, to become more human. So real art peels something away from our surface. Sometimes we get too thick of skin, and then we need art to peel it away and bring back our sensitivity. Fiction is needed because art is truer than life. Art distills meaning from experience, which is often hard to do in reality.
Some people are concerned with the effect of the Internet on literature.
Yes, I think that the Internet has had a big impact on literature in the fact that people can find out so much more about books and authors. Also consequently it can cut down on people's free time to read. I know there have been experiments in interactive writing. But I think writing fiction is the least collaborative of the arts. I think fiction is the result of one person's mad passion.