There are other methods for obtaining that information which don’t use that exact phrase. Once greetings are done something as simple as ‘how have you been recently’ invites people to share that information. The issue is that the standard ‘How are you’ greeting isn’t a request for information so responding to it as if it is one disrupts communication.
As a general rule, when I ask “how’re you?” I actually mean the question, and I want an actual answer if the person I’m asking is willing to give it.
So yeah, I know it’s used as a “social lubricant”, but I myself generally ask it with the intent of actually finding out how the person is doing.
There are other methods for obtaining that information which don’t use that exact phrase. Once greetings are done something as simple as ‘how have you been recently’ invites people to share that information. The issue is that the standard ‘How are you’ greeting isn’t a request for information so responding to it as if it is one disrupts communication.