Adding incentives to boring activities sucks. But adding a layer that helps people measure their progress/achievements is absolutely not bullshit, if done well. Why? Because of human nature. Saying it's bullshit is fighting against our intrinsic nature.

Think about the normal job. We're given abstract goals and vague feedback. How do we "win" at getting a project done? Or even becoming a better developer? We can't. The result is too far in the future, and we easily become unmotivated, and demoralized when we can't see the result as quickly as possible. However, anything that helps measure our progress gives us motivation to continue on. Indicators that tell us how far we've improved keep us in the game.

Any goal that takes too long can benefit from these principles, whether it's language learning, work, etc. We don't need badges, points, etc. We just need something that feeds our desire for progress, improvement and achievement. We need that sense of "win". The same feeling you get when you finish cleaning your room, or heating something in the microwave for 1 minute.

Call it gamification, or whatever. To be honest, I don't even think it should have a term (it just causes people to screw things up as they try to apply it to stuff that don't need it). Things like loyalty cards, or racking up points for a flight is NOWHERE near where the real benefit lies. It's just marketing.

But saying it's bullshit is a disservice.