Why is answering a simple question lying? This is why you can learn something from asking any question. You see the candidates’ attitude, communication skills, and critical thinking skills through pretty much any question. We need to have a conversation during the interview, and the questions are markers that path out that conversation. If you come across as just lying or bullshitting, that’s a signal too. Of course there are better and more awkward questions to ask. But what is so hard about just responding to them like a decent, polite, smart person?
Reading this thread, I guess the problem for some folks stuck on the job market is that they think the hiring manager wants to know: “should I give this guy a job? Do they deserve a chance?”. But that is not the case. They want to know: “Should I fill the position with this candidate or that other one?”. Going in the interview not understanding that they need to be able to differentiate between candidates is just a bad start, and you will only ever get the job if there is no other qualified candidate.