Well, when you’re quoted on a Chipotle bag, you know you’re not only a public intellectual, but a public superstar intellectual. The only way you can be more famous is to appear as a character on The Simpsons.

But I want to know why Pinker is eating at Chipotle*? (I hope the photo came from one of his fans.)

Notice, too, that they chose an idealistic and happy quote (like Chinese fortune cookies, none of which ever have fortunes that say, “You suck!”).  I suppose that’s what makes people associate good feelings with the restaurant. It will be a cold day in the Yucatán when they put an atheist slogan on a burrito bag.

I’d love to see this one, for instance:

Pretending to be certain when one isn’t—indeed, pretending to be certain about propositions for which no evidence is even conceivable—is both an intellectual and a moral failing.
—Sam Harris

*For non-Americans, Chipotle is a chain that purveys bland and Americanized Mexican food