Gratitude, Humility, and the Impulse to Make a Mark.

The impulse to innovate is in many respects something to be grateful for. Some of the greatest enhancements in the quality of American life can be traced to it, including electrification, the automobile, and the airplane. The same can be said in medicine, including antibiotics, the CT scanner, and gene therapy. Yet innovation is not always for the best. For example, Nobel prizes in medicine have been awarded for the discovery that roundworm causes cancer and the introduction of frontal lobotomy as a treatment of psychosis.