Gates reveals that he believes if he were a kid today, he likely would have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. In his childhood, the understanding of different ways brains process information was limited. He says the term “ADHD” came up in college, and he might have been diagnosed with that too.
Looking back on memories for the memoir, he found some didn’t match what he thought. For example, he thought he got straight As in ninth grade but actually got a B. He also remembered an exchange with his father when his father turned down the opportunity to be a federal judge.
He’s candid about getting into trouble at Harvard over computer lab usage and his 1977 arrest for driving without a license and running a stop sign in Albuquerque, N.M. He believes readers want to see the human side of people in memoirs, not an idealized version.