If you're concerned about those things, you need to do some deep introspection and fix whatever issues you have inside yourself.
The argument made by the author is that the graph implicitly transmits a message which I think most of us don't agree with: "Passionate developers work all the time."
So, you're right - it's not harmful because it causes people to crave external validation. It doesn't and therefore removing it will not make the craving go away.
Rather, it's harmful because it makes the people who do crave validation behave in ways that are counterproductive for everyone.
Recognizing that people may have problems, recognizing that the activity graph and streak metric may aggravate those problems, and then saying that the charts shouldn't be removed and the people should just deal with it themselves is not particularly empathetic.
That's the problem, the stats are just that. Anyone interpreting them as an indicator of "should be contributing more" should chill. But I do see your point.
>> Recognizing that people may have problems, recognizing that the activity graph and streak metric may aggravate those problems, and then saying that the charts shouldn't be removed and the people should just deal with it themselves is not particularly empathetic.
To be honest, I didn't read the entire piece, I just got far enough to cringe at this whole notion of people trying to play games with the stats and wanted to comment.
I have been looking inward myself lately, and while I have found it very challenging or even painful at times, it is one of the best things I've ever done. Highly recommended. We've all got our issues...