This is no different from when Fukushima happened, and everyone in Japan bought expensive radiation detectors because they were convinced they were being exposed to high levels of nuclear radiation. Telling people there is an invisible Boogeyman in the air that is killing them is a guaranteed way to spread hysteria and helps no one in any way. All it does is drive sales of detectors and increase ad revenue for sites like Medium.
Or, maybe this doctor of electrical engineering is well versed in a multitude of fields, and through his own research found an anomaly in his indoor air quality and as a scientist felt implored with a responsibility to share his findings. I really don't think that they were being machiavellian while typing it up, thinking: "Hahaha, this is going to get me so many clicks"
I'd liken this more to the wisdom of buying a multimeter. It's a tool to determine many various faults in electrical equipment. From checking to see if it is the batteries are dead or a device is dead, to isolating a bad solder on a circuit board. For $100, I think an investment to see a slice of the invisible world of gas around us is not exactly hair-brained, especially when there is a wealth of independently replicated information that shows that having a lot of CO2 build-up keeps one from achieving self-actualization to the fullest.
I hope that you would agree that no one would competently say that getting a CO detector is a stupid idea.
If the only result of this is that a few more people wise up and get some indoor plants, and crack open the windows a bit even if it chilly outside, then I think the author of the medium post has achieved what they were hoping for. A life hack that has the potential to improve people's lives. We've only been living in tightly insulated indoor dwellings for a few hundred years now at most, and it would be surprising if there were not some unforeseen consequences from this. Being able to quantify and measure those consequences is what separates the ideologists from the scientists.