Show HN: Marvin – A grumpy Slackbot who doesn't like your ideas | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: Marvin – A grumpy Slackbot who doesn't like your ideas

github.com

122 pointskrycroft23 comments

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Thanks, but I already have this coworker.

(Neat project!)

We should all strive to automate our jobs

> Thanks, but I already have this coworker.

Something like that could be added in the bot's list of responses.

I think slack can now pick a random response without a node server somewhere https://slack.com/resources/using-slack/a-guide-to-slackbot-... see the Funny and delightful responses section.

I'm not sure you can name it marvin though.

I might be wrong, but I think that feature has been there for atleast 4 years now. We would use it decide where to go for lunch.

Our team used it to provide instant excuses/root cause. We also had a list of just about every Rebecaa Black "Friday" parody.

The "downside" is that these custom responses were global, while a slackbot can be channel specific.

You could name the trigger 'Marvin?' though, so it looked like it was.

As a contrarian I hate it.

Naysaying fault finding and challenging norms serves to help people think through the problem and assess what might go wrong before it does.

This, while an amusing bot who poopoos every idea serves to critize without thought.

This isn't to downplay the work or amusement value, but people need to critically think through their ideas and think how will this fail, why isn't this a good idea, have we tried this before, if so how can we not fail the same way. If the bot could be taught the experience of the sage greybeards without the immediate I didn't think of it so I don't like it, this would move from novelty amusement to practical.

Extremely funny though.

This project does seem to the play into the “criticism is negativity” trope that some teams (and, generally, egos) fall into. It’s possible to be tight-knit, respectful, empathetic, and openly questioning.

My post from a while back seems relevant: https://meetryanflowers.com/that-wont-work/

Also, I love the automation of nay saying. Gets it right out in the open and steals the thunder of negative people.

You're very optimistic about getting value out of ideas that don't actually work. Is there any reason you think ideas are immune to https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brandolini%27s_law ?

Did you just copy one of the bot's responses?

Are you capable of accepting disagreement?

I can't tell if you're the Marvin bot or not.

This is neat. And for the first time I feel that my job can be easily automated.

Was Marvin named after Marvin Minsky?

This is obviously a Hitchhiker's reference. Minsky was cool, but no match for the Paranoid Android.

Ah, Marvin the Paranoid Android, thank you.

I'd bet that Adams got that from Radiohead when he was tripping in the future

I am not sure Minksy was cool if cool was hanging out with Jeffrey Epstein.

„Your stupid why would you use sudo for that command ...“

I'm too grumpy to want any Slack bots.

>The list has been slightly modified to make it more generic and a little less hostile.

Less hostile? I think... err... I think ... I think I'll go home

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