"The power of a novel lies not in its plot, but in its ability to evoke emotions that resonate with the reader's own experiences."
Not for the sake of our health, though it's often presented that way, but because it's an escape from the human anthill. It's an escape from our own competition, and our own dramas. And that's why ween joy looking at glaciers and oceans, and contemplating the Earth from outside its perimeters, etc. We like to feel in contact with something that is non-human, and that is so deeply important to us.
We are all translators of our own experiences, turning the raw into the meaningful.