False Memories or Parallel Realities?
Here is a common situation: You're talking with someone about an event, only to discover that you both remember things quite differently. Usually, you'd put it down to a poor memory, but what if it wasn't just one person who remembered things differently? What if it was millions?
In fact, this isn't a "what if" situation. It's known as the Mandela Effect, and it was first noticed in 2009 by paranormal researcher Fiona Broome. Broome was chatting with people about the South African activist Nelson Mandela, and she commented how sad it was that he had died in prison in the 1980s. Actually, he'd been released in 1990, become president of South Africa, and died in 2013.
Broome was so shocked at this that she started an investigation. People have memories of movies that never existed, and famous words that were never spoken. There is even a group who clearly recall seeing maps showing that New
Zealand was northeast of Australia (it's southeast), So what in the world is going on?
In each reality, history is shaped by different events, and the Mandela Effect occurs when some of us shift from one reality to another. Therefore, those who remember Nelson Mandela dying in the 1980s aren't wrong. They're just remembering events from their original reality.
More likely, however, is that the Mandela Effect has to do with how our brains store information. Many people remember Pikachu's tail having a black tip on the end of it, when in fact it was always yellow. "Ahal" you cry. "Parallel realities!" Probably not. Consider instead that people often ignore unfamiliar details and transform information to make it more understandable. In the Pikachu example, his tail may not have a black tip, but his ears certainly do. Thus, both his ears and tail are misremembered as having black tips.
All things considered, if you're stuck arguing win someone about whose version of events is correct, it may indeed be easier to agree that neither of you is wrong. You just come from different realities.
A. Before we explain, let's look at an example.
B. It turns out she wasn't the only one who'd experienced this.
C. If several people make these memory errors, the false memory gets stronger socially.
D. The story of Nelson Mandela is not the only example of this type of false group memory.
E. Some claim the Mandela Effect happens because we live in one of many parallel realities.
F. Many in her group agreed, while others mentioned that Nelson Mandela had not died in prison.
G. As more incidents of the Mandela effect continue to occur, perhaps more research into the origins will tell us the causes.
