The Daily Beast ranks the brainpower of America’s 55 largest cities.
Raleigh-Durham captured first place, while Las Vegas came in next to last. But it doesn’t necessarily take brains to make money in Vegas if you can get a job with the fire department.



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oh ya, holdin it down at number 1. I feel so smart. Of course we’re so smart here in Raleigh that we already knew this. I think I’ll go solve the quantum mechanic/space time disconnect now. Don’t blame all you dumber cities for being jealous
Numbah three? Fack you, Daily Beast! You’ll nevah be the Bawstan Fackin’ Globe! Go Sawx!
What a stupid article, the more politically correct state-approved propaganda you memorize the “smarter” you are. Check out what they wrote for Florida:
Keep bronzing those tans, South Floridians. The Miami metropolitan area may be home to some of the most beautiful people in the world, but it scored in the bottom 10 percent for colleges per capita, and rated decidedly average for our other parameters. Earlier this year a new high school in North Miami announced it would be named for former basketball all-star Alonzo Mourning. A defendable choice, taking into account his local charity work. But consider that Janet Reno, the longtime Miami-Dade County district attorney and the first female attorney general of the United States, was passed over for the honor.
Oh yes, please worship the Federal government!
While I don’t think it’s smart to go to college if it can be avoided, it’s hard to deny that smart people tend to go to college.
It seems they forgot the Huntsville-Decatur Metropolitan Area. We would have ranked pretty high, but I guess that would have shattered the “Alabama is full of dumb people” mold, eh?
I stopped reading at #2, which I believe was San Francisco. Of course, this was after stomaching this line in #1: “On top of that, Raleigh, as the state’s capital, attracts engaged political minds, as well.” Poor bastards.
Also, its good to see that the modern non-sequitor of degree == smart still applies. Everybody knows that a sheet of paper certifying your ability to regurgitate years’ worth of professors’ opinions definitely means that you’re not just good at regurgitating opinions, but that you’re smart, too!
That article’s conclusion is based on some absurd premises, but it reminds me of a humorous axiom an ex-girlfriend used from time to time: some people have talent; the rest go to college.
I wonder what this ranking would look like if they applied a Liberty index.
Perhaps the reason some of these cities ranked high is because of state interference in terms of accredited education and licensing.
I also find the non-fiction book category a bit dubious. Reading non-fiction doesn’t really make you smarter than a person reading fiction, and assuming all non-fiction is equivalent is also false.
The rankings that matter are which cities prosper and where are folks moving to.
North Alabama didn’t meet the 1 million person population threshhold they used to put this ranking together. 2008 statistics show only 545,770 mostly excellent people.
This statement, “Post an intelligent and civil comment” was clearly ignored from the authors of some of the comments. Please refrain from disgusting vulgarity. K.C’s comment is very good. Maybe some people, who have liberty in mind, could make a better index.
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