Mandela Effect - Page 2

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When it comes to the mandelaeffect.com web site itself, the point seems to be to catalog instances of people incorrectly remembering things. They seem to honestly believe these things actually happened, it's just that either it was in another universe (or "multiverse" or "timestream") or they themselves have traveled to another universe, but have somehow converged in this one. Their proof is the sheer number of self reported instances. They're so numerous (not really) and so vivid (not particularly) therefore it must be true -- It isn't.

It's as if pop science and pop culture came together and their tawdry, incestuous affair resulted in an unmedicated, mentally handicapped baby and its name was The Mandela Effect.

A few brief facts about memory[2]:

• Memory doesn't work like a filing system or a movie.
• Your memory is filtered through your perspective. It will never truly be free of bias.
• Old memories degrade.
• You are prone to suggestion.
• People can create memories of something they did not experience by being told about it later, especially with childhood memories.
• You were probably not abused by Satanists and can't remember it -- unless it was the Satanic cult I was a High Priest of, then I can assure you that I knocked out those memories pretty well.
• People frequently remember things, but don't remember where exactly they came from. A classic example is Ronald Reagan recounting a heroic story at the December 1983 Congressional Medal of Honor Society. The story actually came from a 1946 movie called A Wing and a Prayer. This phenomenon also accounts for accidental plagiarism[3].
• Eyewitness testimony is terribly unreliable and accounts for about 75% of wrongful convictions[4].
• There are some gifted freaks of nature that have autobiographical memory, the ability to remember every single day of their life. Interesting note: none of them claim to have Mandela memories and none of the people claiming to have Mandela memories have this.

There are many, many studies pertaining to memory backed up with decades of research[5]. None of this is discussed on The Mandela Effect. I think most rational people can accept that memory is not absolute and just because you think you remember something doesn't mean you actually do.

But some people don't accept it. They dig in their heels and insist that they really do remember it, and they can't be wrong, because it happened on a Thursday, and mom always made French toast on Thursdays and I had a bowl haircut so I had to be in the 3rd grade and...

Yes, that is how these Mandela moments are presented:

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