Hubris and humility in the life of the schizophrenia researcher

Objective: The goal of this paper is to provide a personal view of the chal lenges and satisfactions associated with schizophrenia research in the late 1990s. Method: Consideration is given to the successes and frustrations associated with several important discoveries relevant to psychiatry in the context o f personal reflections on the 'maturity' of schizophrenia research as a fie ld of scientific endeavour. Conclusion: Schizophrenia research provides many opportunities for its prac titioners to experience and exercise their modesty. Despite impressive adva nces in the disciplines which are germane to it, our field is, for example, still far from identifying specific aetiological factors which operate in even a substantial minority of our patients. Historical examples illustrate how important it may be to maintain an attitude of single-mindedness, espe cially in the early phases of research in which seemingly bold but ultimate ly correct conjectures are unaccompanied by data that are sufficiently comp elling to convince the wider scientific community. Considerable hubris is r equired in order to believe that one's conjectures are likely to be as corr ect as those that have led to substantive advances in our field.