Whoa.  This is big, people.  An independent study last week revealed its rankings of America’s top 100 smartest cities.

Drum roll please.  Stark Vegas, otherwise known as Starkville, Mississippi, weighed in at Number 34 in the nation! I went to bed dumb as a post and woke up smart…I think.

This knowledge  impressed the dickens out of me especially since I singlehandedly brought the average down at least a point or two…okay maybe ten. 

No wonder I feel downright stupid most of the time.  I’m sharing space with some of America’s brainiest people.  This news makes me want to take up chess and walk around with a book on thermodynamics although I have no idea what that is.

My fellow citizens were tickled pink when they learned that the only other Mississippi city on the list is Oxford, home of its archrival Ole Miss.  Oxford scored considerably lower at Number 74! 

Forget the Golden Egg, apparently Starkville and MSU has a wide edge on the “smarts,” and that should be good for bragging rights for the rest of the century. 

Washington D.C. didn’t make the cut because congress was in session when the test was given. Having them in town really pulls things down (except for the nation debt).

The data was collected from three million people (ages 18-75)who played brain games with an outfit called Lumosity which came up with five different types of mind games that they feel determines a person’s level of intellect.

“One of the most interesting findings from this analysis is that most of the top metro areas contain major research universities, suggesting that education is an important predictor of cognitive performance,” said Daniel Sternberg, Ph.D., Data Scientist at Lumosity. “Neuroscience research has found that those who are engaged in learning and cognitively stimulating activities throughout the lifetime build up a ‘cognitive reserve’ that helps maintain and improve cognitive performance.”

Comparing the Lumosity data with trend data from the U.S. Census American Community Survey data, which is an ongoing statistical survey that samples a small percentage of the population every year, found that the percentage of individuals within a metro area with advanced degrees or pursuing advanced degrees were strong predictors of the cognitive performance score for that city. These findings are consistent with existing neuroplasticity research indicating that those with advanced degrees tend to perform better cognitively throughout the lifespan.