Manna
Manna by Marshall Brainby Marshall Brain
Hacker ApprovedThe most recommended of 5 science fiction novellas
Recommended as a short, well-written speculative story that anticipated AI-driven labor automation and still reads as relevant. Critics find its proposed solution and some details unrealistic.
Recommended as a short, well-written speculative story that anticipated AI-driven labor automation and still reads as relevant. Critics find its proposed solution and some details unrealistic.
31 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 28
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 90%
Recommended in 11 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 28 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 9.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 11 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Prescient about AI and automation
“How prescient was that writer - even the parts about using GPUs weren't too far off the mark!”
Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “Thinking will become a hobby” “That short story has been highly influential on my projections of the future.”
Comment from 4 Feb 2026 in “Rentahuman – The Meatspace Layer for AI” “Marshall Brain really nailed it back in 2003 with Manna.”
Comment from 9 Sep 2026 in “What will our economic future look like?” - Comment from 26 Apr 2026 in “The AI Industry Is Discovering That the Public Hates It”
- Comment from 20 Jul 2026 in “Manna – Two Views of Humanity's Future”
- Comment from 13 Oct 2026 in “Thinking will become a hobby”
Thought-provoking speculative fiction
“If you like speculative fiction on this topic, read Manna by Marshall Brain while you still can”
Comment from 28 Dec 2025 in “2 in 3 Americans think AI will cause major harm to humans in the next 20 years [pdf]” “They're honestly two stories that I reflect on constantly while thinking about AI lately.”
Comment from 24 Jul 2026 in “A Taxonomy of Omnicidal Futures Involving Artificial Intelligence” “There's a fictional take on this which is worth looking at”
Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “Thinking will become a hobby” - Comment from 24 Jul 2026 in “A Taxonomy of Omnicidal Futures Involving Artificial Intelligence”
- Comment from 5 Jan 2026 in “Show HN: A simulator for engineers transitioning from IC to management”
- Comment from 4 Feb 2026 in “Rentahuman – The Meatspace Layer for AI”
Short, easy read
“I found Manna to be a decent read, with its dual vision of how a post-human-labour world could be.”
Comment from 8 Jun 2026 in “Nvidia partners with LG robotics to build humanoid robots in South Korea” “This was a very interesting read, from 2003.”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “I know why the mathematicians weep” “It's a fairly light read, just 8 chapters”
Comment from 24 Nov 2025 in “An Economy of AI Agents” - Comment from 27 Aug 2026 in “CEO fired developers to make room for AI. Developers create open source AI CEO”
- Comment from 4 Feb 2026 in “Rentahuman – The Meatspace Layer for AI”
Still relevant after two decades
“How prescient was that writer - even the parts about using GPUs weren't too far off the mark!”
Comment from 12 Oct 2026 in “Thinking will become a hobby” “This was a very interesting read, from 2003.”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “I know why the mathematicians weep” “which 23 years later has not aged too badly”
Comment from 24 Oct 2026 in “I Did This Without Your Knowledge” - Comment from 22 Sep 2026 in “Teleoperated Humans”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Some predictions seem unlikely
“It's a great story, but did feel unlikely when I first read it”
Comment from 16 Apr 2026 in “We gave an AI a 3 year retail lease and asked it to make a profit” “has its own (inaccurate, IMO) view on how minimum wage McDonald's employees would react to a robot manager”
Comment from 26 Jan 2026 in “OracleGPT: Thought Experiment on an AI Powered Executive”
Other science fiction novellas people recommend
The four most recommended other science fiction novellas, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mannaby Marshall BrainThis page | 28 | 3 | 90% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Prime Intellectby Roger Williams | 9 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
| The Lifecycle of Software Objectsby Ted Chiang | 6 | 3 | 67% | 3 | — | — |
| Monk and Robotby Becky Chambers | 4 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
| Malakby Peter Watts | 3 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
31 of the 38 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“which 23 years later has not aged too badly”
“Great short story, reminds me of Asimov.”
“which arguably does well when considered to inform discourse”
“This was a very interesting read, from 2003.”
“it's looking more and more prescient”
“How prescient was that writer - even the parts about using GPUs weren't too far off the mark!”
“There's a fictional take on this which is worth looking at”
“it seems far more relevant today”
“Marshall Brain really nailed it back in 2003 with Manna.”
“it's a good read if you haven't already”
“I've read Manna and if you haven't you probably should”
“There is a Novel about this: Manna, by Marchall Brian.”
“The other take is Manna, by Marshall Brain. His site's down right now, so here's someone's pdf.”
“it is excellent and a good recommendation”
“it was a gem to stumble across in the early 00s”
“They're honestly two stories that I reflect on constantly while thinking about AI lately.”
“Another interesting read that addresses these themes”
“presents a coherent view of where ai could take us”
“I found Manna to be a decent read, with its dual vision of how a post-human-labour world could be.”
“Sounds like you would enjoy this short story.”
“The thing actually ordered around people how to clean a restroom step by step . Yikes.”
“the author's proposed solution to the labor-automation dystopia is to invent a second identity-verification dystopia”
“We are spiraling toward the first half of this story.”
“It's a great story, but did feel unlikely when I first read it”
“That short story has been highly influential on my projections of the future.”
“well-written parable to communicate it”
“Great read, on Chapter 3 now.”
“has its own (inaccurate, IMO) view on how minimum wage McDonald's employees would react to a robot manager”
“Marshall Brain's ever-relevant novella "Manna"”
“If you like speculative fiction on this topic, read Manna by Marshall Brain while you still can”
“It's a fairly light read, just 8 chapters”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.