I took classical lessons on cello and played in a community orchestra while also learning to play jazz on the bass. Today I'm mostly a jazz bassist but I also play with folk musicians due to my family's musical interests. Among folk musicians, the one thing more offensive than playing the bass is playing the bass and not actually bringing it. So I bring my bass. ;-)

So I live in both the "reading" and "ear" worlds, and in fact my jazz band requires both, since we're a 19 piece "big band" and play from written charts. The bass parts in those arrangements range from being written note-for-note, to being fully improvised.

In my view the main reason for learning to read is if you're interested in one or more of the musical genres that revolve around written repertoire. That's going to be "classical" (which extends beyond the classical era in both directions) and some jazz. You can get lost in that repertoire, and it's a blast to play, by yourself or with friends. There's so much of it that you will never run out of "new" material. Even with "ear" music such as much of jazz, reading helps you function in a band if you happen to know some but not all of the tunes being called.

And you're never completely removed from playing by ear. If anything, written material forces you to improve your ear because in most cases the notes are coming at you too fast to play without some mental processing that involves hearing it in your head.

There are two secondary reasons:

1. Access to material that stretches your physical technique and ear by design (etudes etc) or just due to being difficult. It's hard for improvisers and ear players to get beyond the plateau of playing what their hands and ears are already accustomed to.

2. Commercial work. But even there, reading puts you into a category of employable musicians, that is already overcrowded with musicians.

But if it doesn't interest you, or is an insurmountable obstacle, then leave it behind and don't look back.