I wrestle with this subject. On the one hand, I hate that I’m being manipulated by artificial constructs. But on the other hand, a lot of these are harmless and fun, and sometimes even useful.<p>I mean, fiction stories are equally a waste of time, right? A good one manipulates your emotions, gives you something to latch onto, makes you read to the end, and is ultimately something you could have done without. You could say this of pretty much anything that doesn’t fulfill your basic needs.
Carefully and well-choosing a purpose in live helps with so many things. To be successful, we must learn to act rather than being acted upon. To bring joy and stability, I think it needs to be realistic and at least partly or largely unselfish. I wrote more on past related HN discussions, and many more thoughts (in profile).
I fall for badges and XP, I know it's not real but it triggers something in me. Duolingo have an anniversary "event" in June and I practiced more than ever to get a silly badge, same things with the streaks, I have no real reason to to a lesson on a Saturday when I have a hangover, I have _negative_ reasons to do so. And yet, that streak...<p>The McDonalds app also uses points but I'm not that interested in purchasing 10 Big Macs to get a free Happy Meal, but if they had streaks...
I know I'm nuts; but this makes (no sense at all* to me. Never has. Why is the "merit badge" more motivating than learning how to do the thing? How are "achievements" in a game even a goal?<p>It seems to me the roots of this is the desire to please others before oneself. To use the "gamified" activity as a substitute for interaction with other people by making it seem to have some connection to anyone but just oneself.