It's common for foreigners to come to America and feel that everyone is extremely polite. Especially eastern bloc countries which tend to be very blunt and direct. I for one think that the politeness in America is one of the cultures better qualities.

Does it translate into people wanting sycophantic chat bots? Maybe, but I don't know a single American that actually likes when llms act that way.

Politeness is one thing, toxic positivity is quite another. My experience is that Americans have (or are expected/required to have) too much of the latter, too little of the former.

> I for one think that the politeness in America is one of the cultures better qualities.

Politeness makes sense as an adaptation to low social trust. You have no way of knowing whether others will behave in mutually beneficial ways, so heavy standards of social interaction evolve to compensate and reduce risk. When it's taken to an excess, as it probably is in the U.S. (compared to most other developed countries) it just becomes grating for everyone involved. It's why public-facing workers invariably complain about the draining "emotional labor" they have to perform - a term that literally doesn't exist in most of the world!