IMHO this is how it should be.
That is, for the most part the granting of Badges / Trust Level should be the result of natural activity / an Admin decision.
A lot of requirements can be adjusted by the Admin and indeed, Badges can be granted / revoked and Trust Levels can be granted / revoked / locked independent of any code doing so automatically.
Similar to getting a site to have good position in SERPs, the best advice is to do things naturally.
For Discourse that means:
- visit often
- read much
- show appreciation of other members good posts
- make good posts yourself when you can
It really is that simple. The criteria used are not “perfect” perhaps, but they are very good indicators of a members involvement in the forum.
As for members being able to see other members requirement statistics, heavens no please.
This could result in less noble emotions gaining a foothold and I see no good coming from it.
As for members seeing their own requirement statistics, true, curiosity is a “normal” human trait, but the ability to see the requirement statistics would likely lead to a lot of extra “work” explaining why certain requirement Settings are what they are and would be extremely awkward if a member had met all the requirements but their Trust Level had been locked.