I don't think "fear" is the only thing that separates the scenarios, no. Again, there are many feedback loops at play there. Some of them we might not even notice. Also, when you pretend, you know you're pretending. That in itself is important. But you're absolutely right that some conversations are pretty straightforward. I just don't think this is because they're "like talking to a machine/simulation". That would be an odd perspective on the world, wouldn't it?