The Badges are simply a fun way to both encourage and reward interaction on the Forum.
On the whole they have been received very well. Not everyone will appreciate them but apart from the notification message they are fairly innocuous.
It's a shame you feel patronised, that is certainly not their intention.
As mentioned there is no opt out at the moment, so I would suggest you simply ignore them.
Personally I think they are great; and I'm no spring chicken! 😉
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