Why should you care about whether they are "truly passionate"?
It seems like in your working interactions with people, either they're delivering enough (and delivering what they promised) or not, and they can be judged on that, rather than on abstractions of feelings.
I'm not sure if the guy is American or not, but Americans are more ideological than practical. Being "passionate" about something is more valued than being good. Contrast this to other countries like Germany and Switzerland where a cool headed and calculating competence is seen as more of an ideal attitude towards work.
American, yes. Do I compromise quality at the cost of passion? Most certainty not. But there is something to be said for the value of hiring with a criteria of passion for the idea and space.
I made no implication it was either or. You can certainly have a passionate, cool headed and calculated player on your team.
>passionate, cool headed
These terms are pretty much exclusive, you may want to check a dictionary for "passionate". Unless it's used in some secondary sense different from the usual definition.
He's a startup founder, im posting in this context. Even that aside, I'm aware (most) founders look to hire individuals that are passionate about the space and idea, not someone to simply serve a purpose. That's what outsourcing is for.
It seems like in your working interactions with people, either they're delivering enough (and delivering what they promised) or not, and they can be judged on that, rather than on abstractions of feelings.