Three Useless Words, Ritualistic Social Passcode, Devoid of Their Original Intent
<p>Imagine an alien land on Earth and learning our customs… They’d be so confused about why we incessantly ask about each other’s well-being but never wait for a substantive reply!</p>
<p><strong>“How are you?”</strong></p>
<p><strong>These three words are often asked rhetorically and out of habit, without a genuine interest in the answer.</strong> My response is usually a perfunctory “Fine, thanks,” regardless. I use these words as a meaningless conversational filler, akin to saying “Hello” without intending to start a substantive dialogue.</p>
<p>Sometimes <strong>“How are you?”</strong> is asked while passing by me quickly, without time or intention to listen to my response.</p>
<p><strong><em>The following could be a make-believe conversation:</em></strong></p>
<p>“How are you?”</p>
<p>“Fine,” comes my default response, even a dying person gives. The truth is that at that moment, it’s so long since I’ve been fine that I have no idea what that feels like anymore.</p>
<p><strong>I’ve observed that we rarely want to know the answer when we ask, “How’s it going?” or “How are you?” in passing. It’s just a stand-in for “I don’t really know what to say, so I’ll pretend that I care to know.”</strong></p>
<p><a href="https://medium.com/illumination/useless-words-no-one-knows-who-the-truth-bearers-are-b8ef72d4adc9"><strong>Click Here</strong></a></p>