No choice, no road, no hope—

December 5, 2010 12:09 PM

Upper, Dennis. “The Unsuccessful Self-Treatment of a Case of ‘Writer’s Block’,” Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 3 (1974) 497. Received 25 October 1973. (Pulished without revision.)

Portions of this paper were not presented at the 81st Annual American Psychological Association Convention, Montreal, Canada, August 30, 1973. Reprints may be obtained from Dennis Upper, Behavior Therapy Unit, Veterans Administration Hospital, Brockton, Massachusetts 02401.

posted by kipmanley (24 comments total)

I have studied this manuscript very carefully with lemon juice and X-rays and have not detected a single flaw in either design or writing style. I suggest it be published without revision. Clearly it is the most concise manuscript I have ever seen-yet it contains sufficient detail to allow other investigators to replicate Dr.Upper's failure. In comparison with the other manuscripts I get from you containing all that complicated detail, this one was a pleasure to examine. Surely we can find a place for this paper in the Journal-perhaps on the edge of a blank page.

A bit thin.
posted by mistersquid at 12:26 PM on December 5, 2010 [2 favorites]

(Pulished without revision.)

indeed.
posted by warbaby at 12:32 PM on December 5, 2010 [2 favorites]

I'm certain that this somehow violates a copyrighted essay written by John Cage.
posted by FormlessOne at 12:39 PM on December 5, 2010 [1 favorite]

Truer words were never not written.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 12:51 PM on December 5, 2010

Stolen from this comment:

You should also see the more recent followup article: "A MULTISITE CROSS-CULTURAL REPLICATION OF UPPER’S (1974) UNSUCCESSFUL SELF-TREATMENT OF WRITER’S BLOCK”

posted by khedron at 12:59 PM on December 5, 2010 [4 favorites]

am I missing something?
posted by Danila at 1:10 PM on December 5, 2010

tl;dr
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:13 PM on December 5, 2010 [11 favorites]

As a grad student headed into finals, this made me laugh really hard. And then cry. And then cry and laugh at the same time while drinking all the alcohol in my apartment.
posted by oinopaponton at 1:23 PM on December 5, 2010 [9 favorites]

oh I get it, he couldn't write anything, this is it. heh
posted by Danila at 1:36 PM on December 5, 2010

The lack of comments from more than one reviewer makes it ambiguous regarding whether Dr. Upper's methodology and conclusions were acceptable or if they couldn't find the words for what they had in mind.
posted by ardgedee at 1:46 PM on December 5, 2010

As a grad student headed into finals, this made me laugh really hard. And then cry. And then cry and laugh at the same time while drinking all the alcohol in my apartment.

Me too. Cheers!

My paper is due tomorrow why am I still on Metafilter and where did all the beer go
posted by pemberkins at 1:59 PM on December 5, 2010 [1 favorite]

I'm embarrassed to tell you how many times I tried to download the full PDF, thinking there was something wrong with either my download skills or my computer before I finally caught on...
posted by madred at 2:20 PM on December 5, 2010 [1 favorite]

tl;dw
posted by anigbrowl at 3:13 PM on December 5, 2010 [4 favorites]

I'm sorry, but for academic stunt papers, this guy just doesn't compare to the epic poem Comparative mobility of halogens in reactions of dihalobenzenes with potassium amide in ammonia
posted by TedW at 3:31 PM on December 5, 2010 [4 favorites]

I'm going to comment on this! As soon as I finish the laundry. Also the middle east is really dusty so I'll just sweep up over there and THEN I will comment.
posted by Mister_A at 3:53 PM on December 5, 2010 [1 favorite]

No choice, no road, no hope—
Burma Shave?
posted by kenko at 4:18 PM on December 5, 2010 [3 favorites]

Oh crap, I think I might have inadvertently plagiarized this guy.
posted by Marla Singer at 6:27 PM on December 5, 2010 [1 favorite]

Citation. More citations. All hail peer review.
posted by vanar sena at 7:29 PM on December 5, 2010 [2 favorites]

.
posted by flabdablet at 8:50 PM on December 5, 2010 [1 favorite]

"It is proposed that happiness be classified as a psychiatric disorder and be included in future editions of the major diagnostic manuals under the new name: major affective disorder, pleasant type."
posted by TheophileEscargot at 10:35 PM on December 5, 2010 [2 favorites]

About time JABA got on MeFi! Such a fitting example, too!
posted by rebent at 8:25 AM on December 6, 2010

[CITATION] Happiness and leisure: an ethnodrama, Act I
O Grybovych… - Leisure/Loisir, 2010 - Routledge

I'm actually interested in reading this one....
posted by rebent at 8:27 AM on December 6, 2010

Theophile: I did a bit of digging and turned up the actual article, which is pretty interesting
posted by rebent at 8:36 AM on December 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

 
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 12:29 PM on December 6, 2010