Nicholas Negroponte, Chairman
MIT Media Lab

My passion is passion itself. It comes, in part, from environments that encourage it—environments that do not stigmatize you for being wrong.

Innovation comes from differences. Lateral thinking is key, because "incrementalism" is the enemy of creativity. By juxtaposing people from very different backgrounds, new ideas are bound to emerge.

Visitors have varying and inconsistent views of one project or another. But universally people come away from the Lab amazed at the passion. It is pretty easy to explain. Here, people do what they want, not what they are told. "Love is a better master than duty."

Following are the words of 28 such people, attracted to the Media Lab because it is different from other places.