The Question of "How Are You?"

So I've been wondering, how I always tend to get questions of "How are you (doing)?" And I would always answer "I'm fine" or "OK, I guess". This got me thinking of how mundane this question has become to me.

How do I know if someone really want to or genuinely ask that question to me just to know of my well being. And even tougher for me to figure out is how do I answer them back? I've come to the point in life where I'll go; "Whatever happens to me, it'll happen" or "Shit happens" and just let my life run through without really knowing it like watching a movie and doze off, and then wake up to catch a scene and dose off.

I realised I have been under that condition for the longest of time, never really chase after the things I want, or never really living out my life, to the extent I don't really whether I'm doing fine or not.

Or, am I only thinking this too far, or it's just that the question of "How are you?" really has no meaning to it because even if you let out all the problems you're facing of how do you feel, how your day went, etc... the one listening might not be caring enough OR understanding your situation to know exactly how you feel and what you went through, and instead of ranting out to the person who asked, the only appropriate answer is just to say "Fine.", "OK" and pretend to yourself once more and going through life again?

Well, that's just a random thought.