There are sooo many seemingly simple questions people can ask where an honest answer is nothing but soul crushing and not the slightest bit helpful.

"Should I have kids with X?"

"I want to follow my dream, quit my job and try to make a living as a comedian, what do you think?"

"You think I will lose the 40 pounds till the end of the year?"

"My father/mother/so and I got into a fight about the most important thing in my life. What do you think?"

"You think my kid is good enough to do XYZ?"

A lot of the time my honest answer might not support you. But then again: Who am I to judge? Why would I feel the need to give you feedback that I know will be really, really hurtful without being useful in any objective way?

I have answered a question like this honestly in the past and it led to the person cutting me out of their life for not supporting them.

Yeah, everybody says they prefer honesty even if it hurts their feelings but most of the time this is because they assume that the honest answer is the one they'd like to hear.