I'm not too happy with the framing of this post. It's rather guilt-trippy (this is highly common in self-help these days, sadly), and, as most such advice, it relies on making you feel bad in overt ways rather than making a good argument. But I'm also getting a strong manipulative vibe here.

The author makes unfounded claims and then calls the reader a child if they don't agree with the author.

The terms "asshole" and "jerk" are being thrown rather liberally. You're not an asshole or a jerk if you want to end a conversation.

People who do not immediately reciprocate are not automatically takers with no concept of generosity.

Anger is not "childlike". It's an emotion, like many others. I've seen it plenty in older people. Some people could use more of it. Some people have too much of it. This is true for virtually every emotion. Shutting it down instead of calibrating can cause problems. Most of this is irritation, not anger, anyway. Passive-aggressiveness often occurs when it's not possible to release emotions properly. At the end of the day, we're not Vulcans, but some environments practically demand that we express no strong emotions of any kind, which is not without side effects. We should work with what we are, not what we like to pretend to be, and I think emotions have been getting a lot of bad rap lately.

Emotions are of informational value in and of themselves and most of us do not express them as a means to an end. We express them because we feel them. Whether or not we should be feeling a particular emotion is a more interesting discussion. And the effect such a thing will have on other people depends a lot on the situation and the culture...

The language just creeps me out.

> "John" sounds patient and caring. He actually wants to help.

> He won't go above and beyond when it turns out his ex-cofounder is someone who can help you.

> You know, the self that is good at getting what it wants from others.

> And you should have said it genuinely. Even if you're feeling miserable. With your sudden warmth, Max is appreciative that you’re making his hustle easier, and he goes out of his way to tell you what he can do for you at the end of the call.

I do not find it a great thing if someone is in a poor mood, thinks I'm a waste of time, but then tries to mimic genuine warmth without actually feeling it in order to get what they want and maximize their use of time. I'd much, much rather they brush me off as fast as possible.

There's a word that describes people like this but I'd rather not use it. I'm OK with "not valuing my time" if it means I remain genuine. I do not want to live in a world of masks. I expect people to occasionally be irritated, cold, and otherwise not on their best emotional performance. I expect it even more if I am indeed at risk of wasting their time. Them being irritated and such is a cue to me to understand what's going on, if they are masking it, how can I tell? Emotions are information.

I find it much more productive to expect people to express emotions and learn to understand them, empathize with them, as well as tolerate them. The people don't have to construct elaborate masks, and I don't have guess as to what everyone's feeling.

This doesn't seem like a good source of emotional advice to me.