What are Your Thoughts About the Standard 'How are You' Greeting?

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Do you ever substitute the greeting, 'how are you?' with something that conveys the same message, but, is less standard? Being greeted with a 'hi, how are you?' is pretty typical. It may prompt a vague response, being that it is a polite question, that may be asked in-passing. However, my question is this ~ How do you typically feel about answering that greeting, and how do you typically respond to it? Is it a question that you take seriously, even if the body language of the asker of the question, may not be receptive to your (possible) detailed and indepth answer? So, what are your thoughts about giving the greeting and/or receiving the greeting of 'how are you?'