I don't really think the components of your theory are wrong, but I do disagree with the conclusion. Most of the written works that exist today have no basis in factual or enriching knowledge, but society would undeniably be worse-off without them. Maybe you and I would rather see every
Mr. Beast video on the internet disappear, and so too would the Holy See rather that
120 Days of Sodom never be read by human eyes in 2024. But there
is anthropological value to these works, even as slop. We look at
120 Days with a diagetic understanding of the hopelessness of it's author and the social satire integrated into it's narrative. Yes, there is a debauched reflection of society in the mirror, but it's an undeniably human one.
When I was younger, I resented a lot of things that I didn't participate in. I hated my boyfriend for watching shitty TV dramas instead of the respectable AMC thrillers that were popular at the time. I hated my parents for whistling Beach Boys instead of the pop tunes everyone knew and loved. Even today, I bristle when my siblings mention an influencer at the dinner table. After a while I came to realize that I was the dysfunctional one for obsessing over how other people spent their free time. My boyfriend spent 8 hours a day doing meal prep for the local college, my parents drove me around without ever asking for gas money - who the fuck was I to complain about their habits?
If I try to denigrate other people for being "stunted" or "dysfunctional" for using social media, I see the reflection of my own obsession with fiction on the other side. Tolkien put it nicely - the human desire for storytelling is universal because all of us are united by a fear of death. The fact that we still yearn for fantastical narratives is a sign that humanity hasn't transcended it's basic concerns yet.