What information do you think every human being should have memorized?

The First Amendment to the US Constitution.

If you are married, the date of your wedding anniversary.

@HungryGuy – Every human being? Sounds a bit imperialist to me!

What would be the point of remembering that for most of humanity, when nearly everyone wouldn’t even know a word of the actual US constitution in the first place? (probably including me, although I might know a little bit, not sure about that).

“Thirty days have september, April, June and November. All the rest have 31 except February which has 28 unless it’s leap year, in which case it has 29.”

Even better, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Article 1 of the German Constitution.

Their address and how to get home.

You should always keep in your head that life only gets better if you want it to.

Probably the most common and abundant edible plants in their region. Then you’d never starve, and probably would be more likely to protect your landbase.

Name, rank and telephone number.

@gmander – To me, “imperialism” means one country imposing it’s rule over another. The question asked what I think all people should know. Thus, I think understanding the importance of freedom of speech is essential for the freedom of all people in all countries, not just Americans. This knowledge is sorely lacking in most people, IMO.

@HungryGuy – That’s different from the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States! Which is a rather dry statement of limitation on the ability of the US Congress to pass certain laws. I applaud the sentiment and would agree with that, but I still don’t agree with the original suggestion.

Righty-tighty, lefty-loosey

If it were possible:

The Heimlich maneuver
CPR

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t.

That in English, it’s still is an abbreviation for it is and not a synonym for its.

Oh, and how to teach your cat to dial 911.

Higher numbers on the ph scale are acidic. (Is that correct?)

@gailcalled Other way around

So much for learning by rote. :-0

History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of man. Source

The Qur’an

The depths of their own ignorance. If we all kept that in mind a little more, perhaps we’d not be so unwilling to engage in honest dialogue all the time.

The presidents place of birth and their governors felony convictions.

Be Excellent To Each Other

Which plants are edible and which aren’t. How to obtain fresh/clean water. Day lengths/seasons and tides. How to appear threatening or not threatening. Basic autonomy. Basic building skills and simple physics. BOOM!

North, South, East and West.

The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.

If your entire body hurts for no reason, you should probably get a blood culture!

@Cruiser

George Washington – Westmoreland County, VA
John Adams – Braintree, MA
Thomas Jefferson – Albemarle County, VA
James Madison – Port Conway, VA
James Monroe – Westmoreland County, VA
John Quincy Adams – Braintree, MA
Andrew Jackson – Waxhaw, SC
Martin Van Buren – Columbia, NY
William Harrison – Charles City County, VA
John Tyler – Charles City County, VA
James Polk – Mecklenburg County, NC
Zachary Taylor – Orange County, VA
Millard Fillmore – Cayuga County, NY
Franklin Pierce – Hillsborough, NH
James Buchanan – Mercersburg, PA
Abraham Lincoln – Hodgenville, KY
Andrew Johnson – Raleigh, NC
Ulysses S. Grant – Point Pleasant, OH
Rutherford B. Hayes – Delaware, OH
James Garfield – Orange, OH
Chester A. Arthur – Fairfield, VT
Grover Cleveland – Caldwell, NJ
Benjamin Harrison – North Bend, OH
William McKinley – Niles, OH
Theodore Roosevelt – New York, NY
William H. Taft – Cincinnati, OH
Woodrow Wilson – Staunton, VA
Warren G. Harding – Corsica, OH
Calvin Coolidge – Plymouth, VT
Herbert Hoover – West Branch, IA
Franklin D. Roosevelt – Hyde Park, NY
Harry S. Truman – Lamar, MO
Dwight D. Eisenhower – Denison, TX
John F. Kennedy – Brookline, MA
Lyndon B. Johnson – Stonewall, TX
Richard M. Nixon – Yorba Linda, CA
Gerald Ford – Omaha, NE
Jimmy Carter – Plains, GA
Ronald Reagan – Tampico, IL
George H.W. Bush – Milton, MA
Bill Clinton – Hope, AR
George W. Bush – New Haven, CT
Barack Obama – Honolulu, HI

Remembering the felony convictions of governors, however, is an impossible task.

@SavoirFaire +6 for even thinking about the Gov’nr wrong doings!

Counting 1 to 100 , yes, no… in at least one language

@SavoirFaire Are you sure that last one is correct?

I guess another answer I have might qualify, though not exactly.
Everyone should have typing and computer skills.
With that, any and all information is available.

@filmfann Yes, I am.

@SavoirFaire
some more Presidents:

Prof. Dr. Theodor Heuss – Brackenheim
Heinrich Lübke – Enkhausen
Dr. Dr. Gustav Heinemann – Schwelm
Walter Scheel – Höhscheid
Prof. Dr. Karl Carstens – Bremen
Dr. Richard von Weizsäcker – Stuttgart
Prof. Dr. Roman Herzog – Landshut
Johannes Rau – Wuppertal
Dr. Horst Köhler – Heidenstein
Christian Wulff – Osnabrück

SSN?

Basic math- your phone might go dead sometime.
Women should wipe front to back.
Cuts to fingers do not need stitched up unless a piece has been cut almost or all the way off. No, it cannot be really deep because there is no deep.
Smiling tricks your brain into feeling better- muscle memory?
It’s not necessary to tell the bare, honest truth all the time.
Being alone is okay, being single is okay, being gay is okay.
PDFs are not okay.
Basic cooking, so easy.

@faye Being alone is not okay when you have an involuntary reaction of sadness from it!

I think people should know the concept and importance of Love and Charity.

Birthdates of your loved ones.
Important phone numbers for when your cell dies/gets lost.
Rules of the road, universal road signs.
Basic greeting and polite words/skills in the language of the place you are going to visit.
I before E, except after C.

Approximately how many stars are in our galaxy alone (200–400 billion), and how old the planet is (4.5-ish billion).

This quote:

“You can’t make sense out of nonsense.”

How to think for one’s self.

Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. -Voltaire

Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it. -Samuel Clemens

Astronomy: name of planets of our solar system
Astrophysics: our sun is a star powered by nuclear fusion
Biology: all life is based on the same genetic code, genes encode proteins
Chemistry: most important 20 elements, most important 20 molecules
Cosmology: rough age of universe, origin of elements, life of stars
Economics: price reflects demand and supply, basic understanding of inflation
English: most frequent 200 words
Food: basic composition: carbs, proteins, fat, vitamins, minerals, fiber
Geography: all continents, at least five countries per continent
Geology: basic principle of plate tectonics, earthquakes, volcanoes
Health: basic principles how to stay healthy (diet, exercise, vaccines, hygiene)
History: three ancient civilizations, ten major events of recent history
Mathematics: basic multiplication table, how to add, subtract, multiply and divide numbers using pen and paper
Physics: composition of an element, definition of speed, momentum, energy, power, density, voltage, amperage
Politics: four countries in UN Security Council, five principles of universal human rights
Psychology: name five basic human emotions, how to send I-messages
Religions: name five large world religions
Weather: how to handle severe weather (e.g. what to do when there’s a tornado warning)

@mattbrowne Good, although your numbers are a bit random.

@mattbrowne
Astronomy: name of planets of our solar system

Of which there are 8.

@mattbrowne Whew, I’ve got some memorizing to do! We don’t have 5 countries, do we? do we?

Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile. There, 5 :D

North America and South America are two separate continents by most conventions. N. America includes Central America, however, so you can add them…Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Belize, Honduras, El Salavdor and Guatemala.

Australia and Antarctica have only one country per continent. But these are also somewhat arbitrary conventions.

@gailcalled Australia is sometimes considered part of Oceania, along with New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Micronesia, and a bunch of other island nations.

As I said, it depends on whose conventions you choose today. it’s all pretty arbitrary. Why draw a line between Panama and Venezuela Colombia?

I was always shitty at geography. There’s some memorizing to do there, but it’s been memorized and just slowly seeps away again.

The multiplication table up to 12×12.

@Afos22 – The question was about what I think, not about the outcome of some empiric study. What did you expect? I tried to be reasonable. And we were talking about all human beings in all countries.

Okay, the five countries per continent can be an issue, see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Continental_models.gif