Paul Allen

“We taught ourselves to simulate how microprocessors work using DEC computers so we could develop software even before our machine was built.”

“Some people can vent their anger, take a breath, and let it go, but I wasn't one of them.”

“Computers are really, basically, computing elements and a lot of memory. They are pretty easy to understand, as compared to the brain, which was designed by evolution.”

“I first got interested in the brain through computers.”

“In order to be truly intelligent, computers must understand - that is probably the critical word.”

“I think few people in their lifetime have the chance to be involved in something like the creation of Microsoft - that's always going to be something I'm known for.”

“If it hadn't been for our Traf-O-Data venture, and if it hadn't been for all that time spent on UW computers, you could argue that Microsoft might not have happened.”

“Traditionally, Seattle has been a great sports town and great football town. What the Huskies have achieved over the years has been pretty amazing. That's how I got my first taste of football - when I went with my father to Husky Stadium.”

“The human brain works in, so far, mysterious and wondrous ways that are completely different than the ways that computers calculate. Things like appetite or emotion, how do those function in the brain?”

“As someone who was basically a software engineer for many years, I became fascinated with how the brain functions and is put together and works in such a different fashion than computers do.”

“The thing you realize when you get into studying neuroscience, even a little bit, is that everything is connected to everything else. So it's as if the brain is trying to use everything at its disposal - what it is seeing, what it is hearing, what is the temperature, past experience.”

“I spent many, many hours in the stack at the University of Washington library just wandering around, when my dad was working, as a kid.”

“The promise of artificial intelligence and computer science generally vastly outweighs the impact it could have on some jobs in the same way that, while the invention of the airplane negatively affected the railroad industry, it opened a much wider door to human progress.”

“There's a long history of artificial intelligence programs that try to mimic what the brain is doing, but they've all fallen short.”

“You've got to enjoy time with your family and friends, and if you're involved in sports franchises, those peak moments in playoff games. You have to enjoy life.”