Common Explanations

As a general rule, there is normally an identifiable solution and explanation to most Mandela Effects, or at least theories. These usually relate to key factors and information regarding the subject mixed with a common memory bias or other psychological effect.

This list is by no means exhaustive and may not fit certain examples at all. It’s simply to be used as a guide to why some Mandela Effects exist in the first place failing any hard explanations on a given subject.

NOTE: For theories and explanations on ACTUAL Mandela Effects, please view the postings here.

Misinformation effect

That misinformation affects people’s reports of their own memory. I believe this to be a key factor in many Mandela Effects. Simply seeing the claim from another person may sway recollection of your own memory, especially if you lacked concrete or deep memories or connections to the subject to begin with.

Confirmation bias

The tendency to search for, interpret, or recall information in a way that confirms one’s beliefs or hypotheses. Those seeking Mandela Effects will often be more easily persuaded by other claims. And with such claims they may agree with, they will often discard any countering evidence or claims.

Misattribution of memory

When information is retained in memory but the source of the memory is forgotten. This is sometimes present in Mandela Effects where we forget where we know something from or why it’s familiar, possibly leading to incorrect attribution of the original source confounding the confusion factor.


A form of misattribution where a memory is mistaken for imagination, because there is no subjective experience of it being a memory. Many Mandela Effects may have started out as imagination rather than real memories.


Facts cannot change; however, they can be revealed to be untrue or nonfactual, thus is the case with many things throughout human history. As science and technologically progresses, so does our understanding of the world around us. Unfortunately for us, our brain is not always built to accept new ideas and new facts. People who either intentionally, or unintentionally (they do not know the new information) can also spread these misconceptions, thus perpetuating these erroneous beliefs into society. This is how misconceptions are born and at the heart of many Mandela Effects.

False memory

A false memory is the psychological phenomenon in which a person recalls a memory that did not actually occur. It’s often cited with and has a strong connotation to some type of trauma such as sexual abuse and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). While it would be quite rare for Mandela Effects to originate as false memories, it could fit in those lesser known or less believed ones as the scenario would typically be very specific to the person with the false memory. Because of the trauma involved with these cases, the subject would be quite resistant to accept any new evidence in opposition of their belief as their brain has literally implanted this idea as a counter to protect itself from mental harm, thus introducing cognitive dissonance.

Cognitive dissonance

Cognitive dissonance not an explanation per se, but rather a by-product. It is one of the main causes for so many people to be so resistant to evidence and ideas contrary to their beliefs and memory. Cognitive dissonance can be the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values. Please note the use of “can be” as there is many purists that don’t accept the broader definition and scope of cognitive dissonance applying to memory versus reality.




189 thoughts on “Common Explanations

  1. Can there really be this many idiots, with so much vivid imagination, that would turn easily explainable things into grand conspiracies like this? Universe slipping, dimension changing, etc.? I am just floored that so many people would go to such incredible and outlandish extremes to explain these sorts of memory errors, or simple spelling changes that occur with time?? How do you think languages change over time as they do? Olde English didn’t need a conspiracy or a dimensional shift or an elite group of new world leaders to become the English language as it is today. It just required small changes here and there over time to eventually become a completely different English than it was in times past. Change over time, due to a misspelling here and there, etc. That is all that is happening. Very simple and not mysterious at all to a rational, thinking person. The convoluted explanations offered by some people here are just plain silly. Perhaps our schools are no longer teaching people how to think rationally or critically anymore, leading people to such ridiculous conclusions? To me, the only mystery here is how so many people can be duped into believing outlandish and silly explanations when critical thinking would offer rational explanations instead. It makes me have real concern for the future, since if people are so easily manipulated to believe complete garbage, some charismatic person would have no problem at all leading the American masses over the proverbial cliff. Oh, wait. That is exactly what is happening….

    • Yes, is the short answer. Lol. I have a theory that I believe, given the correct tools and opportunity, I could probably substantiate quite convincingly. I believe it has to do with what I call “Death of an idea”. In the case of Nelson Mendella, the proverbial death of what he actually represented to a huge number of people.

      He was a catalyst, an agent of potentially radical, strongly desired change. He was charismatic, seemingly super-human to many of the people who followed him. He changed the core of his followers very identity, fueled rage and anger in millions of his fellow countrymen and women, tapping emotionally charged energy that was directly a result of the actions of Nelson Mandella himself. Of course, to the millions of angry masses that were his followers, he was not really a person. He was, in the sense that they knew he existed as a human being just like them, but in the ways that matter to the subconscious mind, he was simply the primary link to a part of their consciousness that developed as a result of his action. They never, for the most part, shook his hand, spoke to him, looked him in the eye… nothing. Nor did they see endless streams of information and high definition images of the man like we see today with public figures or otherwise psychologically stimulating individuals. Once he was arrested, this agent of change became the subject of wide spread grief mixed with a different kind of hatred. This would have been very similar to the hatred and despair felt by the black community when MLK was shot. Yes, he was, the man himself, still apparently “alive” in the literal sense, but he had been removed from the sphere of influence and veritably buried alive in a prison cell.

      I call this pre-imprisonment Nelson Mandella “Mandella A”. Mandella A died in a very real way once the realization set in that he was not only in prison, but he very well may die a prisoner. To hope for him to emerge alive, not to mention for him to return and complete the mission he had previously been pursuing, was akin to wishing someone back from the dead. Even when he, yeeeears later mind you, was released, he was very subdued relative to what he had been in his youth, obvuiously anybody would be at that point. He looked very different, he was no longer his energetic, charming, blissfully angry self… basically the enemy had successfully broken him. Another important factor is that he was no longer married. Especially at the time of his imprisonment, this would have been a very large part of his perceived identity. this is especially true since his wife gained an exponentially louder public voice during his time in prison, only to be estranged from him at almost exactly the same time he was to be released.

      Regardless of the past state of conscious awareness in the millions who claim he died in prison, for the most part this was most likely not something they were aware of at the time – but the Mandella who was released and the man many of them voted in to the office of their Presidency, was not the same man as Nelson Mandella A. They may have casually referred to him as the same person, they may have never even acknowledged the doubts or differences in their emotional connection to the man, but they undoubtedly would have existed. He was a shell of his former self, and for all they knew, it wasn’t even him. I know, personally, had i been one of these revolutionists, I would have been extremely conscious and aware of the possibility that his “enemies” who imprisoned him to begin with, simply killed him and pretended he was alive, while they created a convincing old man lookalike to exploit their own interests. It would, after all, be incredibly beneficial to have the ability to assume the role of someone their public protestors trusted implicitly. “I am Nelson Mandella!” Sure, says the brain… for the sake of safety the subconscious mind would likely choose to only believe that until the moment he did something that Mandella A would never have done. Obviously this trust was never actually broken and thus there was never confirmation to their subconscious that this “Mandella B” was not the same person. That does not change the fact that, the entire time he was back in the political sphere of influence, their subconscious would never have allowed them to truly accept him as the same change catalyst as before, regardless of their conscious acknowledgment of him as having the same name and same basic physical characteristics.

      The simplest analogy is this – Imagine you live in a village with one well of drinkable water. There is no other well for hundreds of miles, and you have no way to travel hundreds of miles. Your 20 years old, lets say, and some mortal enemy conquers your town, and allows some of you to live. They build a barricade around the well, and divvy out water to the people sparingly. You never see the well during this time, though they reassure you that is where the water is coming from. All of a sudden, some thirty years later, they tear down the barricade, revealing a dirty, weathered cylinder of rock that used to be the beautiful, cherished and perfectly maintained town well. It is “the same”, but it’s clearly weathered, clearly been mistreated, shunned, used only for the sake of keeping people barely alive. In addition to that, it has been under the control of people who, as far as you are concerned, wouldn’t care if you died of thirst in the first place. Now, all of a sudden thirty years later that enemy says, “You are free to drink from the well, infact… heck, get the water yourselves!”

      Ok, why all of a sudden are we being allowed access to this? What is the true motivation for this? Is this just a rouse to get us to drink poison? Even if it ends up being a simple case of laziness by the enemy, or that the enemy just gave up and really doesn’t care any more… it doesn’t change the state of distrust of the people being reintroduced to it. Inevitably, regardless of the situation, they have to drink it, so it’s not as if “courage” or some sort of choice in the face of alternatives actually existed… as far as they knew they were about to drink their last cup of water. This would eventually subside, the fear I mean, but this wouldn’t change their ultimate perception of one well existing in the past, very much seperate and independent from the new one. They may call it the same thing, but as far as the brain is concerned, this one location and this one thing has two very different origins and very different emotions associated with each.

      This is just one explanation, there are countless ways to frame this logically without involving Cern. While I admit that past states of spacetime may very well decay or deteriorate just like the deteriorating material that we use to define them, I have to assume that this is very much an unlikely reality given the considerable number of more logical, scientific evidence driven possibilities. Even if such decay did occur, to credit humans with creating it is, I must say – quite absurd, laughable even. For the record, if you understand the basic idea of the anecdote here, then I’d be happy to provide the actual science behind it. The actual theory in it’s literal form is completely neurologically based, but i figured an anecdote would do a better job of conveying the basic idea than to rattle off a bunch of terms and concepts that most of the public doesn’t understand.

      Side note – I initially developed the idea around the assumption that false claims of “Mandella dies in prison” were very likely to have been circulated in attempts to stir civil unrest among his followers during his imprisonment. This is what led to the logical outline of the theory, but it became evident quite quickly that this assumption, likely as it is to be true, was not necessarily a foundation of the theory. The theory is very sound when only based on simple brain functions and recurring psychological phenomena that are very well researched and are shockingly common. The only difference being that the context of the anomalous memory is almost always unique to an individual, or to an isolated handfull of individuals. The Mandella Effect is only unique in the sense that it is so wide spread and the symptom so specific among those claiming to have it.

      • Most people don’t have any of that information about Mandela. They claim to have seen people in the streets during his funeral in the ’80’s. I seriously doubt any of the 19 Million people who voted for Mandela in the first Democratic election EVER to be held in South Africa share the memory of Nelson Mandela dying in the ’80’s!!!! It would be like you thinking your beloved Mother died in the ’80’s….oops she’s still alive!
        None of the ME are important to the people who have the shared misinformation memories, of movies, ads, history…geography/movies/maps in the case of New Zealand and Iceland moving…..has anyone who has this experience actually lived or even been to these places? Do the people who live in these countries claim they have moved across the globe?
        I’ve yet to hear of one instance. Below someone insists New Zealand has moved because it isn’t on the globe in the movie Dazed and Confused! Something might be going on with some movies (they’re famous for filming the same scene in different ways, changing names, playing JOKES…they are MOVIES could anything be less scientific?) but the way memories are stored is well known and quite predictable.

        • There is a section of the Google website called google trends where you can type in a search phrase and it will give you historical search data by region. The area where the question “when did Nelson Mandela die” was most searched was South Africa. The two most common months when it was searched were December 2013 which makes sense because that is when he actually died and July 2013 which is five months before he died when his failing health first made the news. If he was in the news as being sick, why would you be searching for when he died unless you were confused by the news because you thought he was already dead.

    • You are correct about schools. In fact, the Texas Republican Party explicitly states that children should not have to learn critical thinking, but that they should be able to believe whatever their parents tell them.

      And the whole ME fad shouldn’t surprise you. This is almost identical to political ideology, religion, and all other faiths based beliefs. They use fallacies and human memory to prop up their pet ideas, while ignoring direct physical evidence, and they never provide any direct evidence.

    • What worries me for the world of the future are people like you with your patronising attitude… to someone like yourself everything is explainable and you just want to use a simple explanation every single time and dismiss out of hand.

      There are a few genuine ME’s out there that are very very difficult to explain.

      Dilemna was taught this way to me at School and now has it’s own website due to the huge amount of people globally that believe it was previously spelt this way.

      How did we all add a silent ‘n’??

      Sex In The City was advertised on Channel 4 here in the UK as exactly that, I recall them saying that name and I remember the logo on TV adverts and even in the electronic guide on my TV. It was in newspaper adverts and magazines too and the logo I clearly recall tallies up perfectly with that shown on so called knock-off perfume.

      Hell that bloody programme which I never watched was advertised constantly!

      Sex And The City came about at the time of there last film – I thought it was a rebrand!

      Staples logo changes now has me flummoxed these last few days but the BIG smoking gun for me is that Dolly from Moonraker no longer has braces!

      I have just this past day asked 8 people around my age or slightly older plus my dad who I clearly remember laughing at that silly scene back in the 80’s if she had braces on in the film and they all said ‘Yes definitely’.

      I mean it was the whole point of that scene – her and Jaws were a perfect match…

      He had a metal mouth and when she smiled she had what we call train tracks!

      Anyway, it was 8 for 8 of the people asked and they all seemed confused and a tad worried when I explained that she never actually had them.

      I didn’t put words in their mouths or suggest anything at all – everyone remember it quite clearly and so how do you explain different people falsifying the same incorrect memory? Just explain that because I would just love to debunk this thing!

      I’m all up for it being just confabulation – can we have some serious ideas on how that would work on a mass scale?

      • You say that there “are a few ME’s out there that are difficult to explain…”: difficult yes, but not impossible. Why jump to the comclusion that there is a supernatural/ME effect going on instead of using reality and natural explanations as the reason? We aren’t “dismissing” ME’s; we are just finding natural and logical reasons more reliable than accepting the ridiculous (yes, I said ridiculous) notion that an alternate universe is the cause. Show me first that an alternate universe exists and then I will be more likely to add that into the possibility that MIGHT be the cause. You ask how it can work on a mass scale: Your term “mass” needs to be defined, first off. Secondly, how many people does it take (does it have to be a majority and how much is a majority?) for you to be convinced that you are just remembering it wrong? The girl with the braces HAD braces, not a metal casing that covered her teeth. How do I remember this and you remember it incorrectly? I had braces at the time and I that’s why that scene stood out. It’s a matter of WHAT causes things to stand out for you. The Sex In The City/Sex And The City “effect”: I always thought it was Sex in the City but like you, I never watched this show: unlike you I am not predisposed to conspiracy theories or supernatural explanations over reality, therefore knowing that the real title was Sex And The City I conclude that I had been wrong in what I THOUGHT it was: NOT that there is an alternate universe switching things around on me. Again, first show me that an alternate universe exists and then we can talk about what MIGHT be happening.

    • Really Shelly? OK then I’ll follow your idea and completely toss away the feelings of 100000% CERTAINTY with vivid memories that back it up if ya can explain this 1 mandela effect. New Zealand. Currently as we are today Jan 20th 2017 is geographically located to the east side of Australia yet many people remember it to be to the west. There is residual evidence though in the movie “dazed and confused” where the kid has a globe on his desk and he’s spinning it slowly. If ya look ya can see there is a land mass to Australia s west that is eerily similar to new Zealand and theres nothing at all to Australia s east . Would ya please explain this?

      • Movies. Not scientific. Can you prove New Zealand has moved? Or is it just a map-thing in movies & such? The way memories are stored and shared over time, scientifc. The End.

      • Sometimes upside-down maps are used, I’ve seen those over the years. Another question would be, why that stuck as a vivid memory, as with other cases you mentioned.
        My supposition is that changes to commonly known facts may have taken place and the ME cases provided are as legit as they get, but with the exception that they are actually either doctored by man or by some sophisticated AI. I believe, one would be quite capable of that, although, with some degree of error, hence, so called “residual evidence”, as they tende to call it .
        Why? Well, if you can change actual facts and it goes, then anything goes.
        Education is so bad these days, that there’s hardly anything one can positively say fact-wise without looking it up on the web + there were cases when historians have reconsidered some events, so facts ARE, in fact, arbitrary. Just like with who burnt down the Reichstag – the jews or the nazi party – it all depends on who wants you to believe in what.
        So, 1) mass change facts on web = change mindset of many many people; 2) profit. Then step by step – and right into the fiery pit we go.

    • It’s fun to imagine that there might be more to life than eat, sleep, work repeat. Like something magical… a portal ? A parallel universe? Fuck yea!

      The story of Jesus ain’t enough anymore…

    • Shelley, this is anti-intellectual 2017 America. I remember when this madness began, for me. In a 7-11, about 20 years ago, I noticed a shopper buying all the Gerber baby food jars. He told the cashier that Gerber was sending a $30 per label rebate. I thought, well, there’s one born every minute, but in the next weeks, I saw this event happen two more times. Naturally, all of the buyers were of a certain ilk.

    • Or your just being close minded, if people believe in religion, and some person floating in the sky yet to be seen or given any evidence that he/actually exist, then people can believe in what they want to believe in, and yes I do believe in the Mandela effect.

    • Yep, there can be. Our mental capacity is under constant assault.

      As far as can a lot of people screw up something simple, well, there’s all kinds of examples of that. Take song lyrics – some songs’ lyrics have been screwed up for years by millions of people. 2 I can think of off the top of my head are Rocket Man by Elton John and that other 70s song about being wrapped up like a douchebag in the middle of the night (that’s not actually how it goes, but I got it wrong so long I can only remember the wring way now) – maybe it was by ELO, maybe not. I have no idea what the nAmerican of the song is. But, if it comes in the radio I will sing the $#!+ out of it the wrong way.

    • Well you’re just a big old hater, aren’t you. Chill out and let people believe what that wanna believe. Just because you don’t believe it doesn’t mean you need to call them “idiots.” You just aren’t thinking deep enough. I get it if you just don’t understand, but hating and misunderstanding are two different things. Maybe you’re just part of time travel and don’t want your secret to get out. How do you feel about that, Shelley?

  2. First of all, it’s always been Bearenstain, not stein. I remember being a kid and figuring out that I was wrong about it being stein. I think every kid at first thinks its stein for a w hile, and if you don’t eventually figure out that it’s actually stain as a kid then you will probably end up being a weird adult who insists it used to be stein.

    But what gets me is the collective ignorance surrounding definitions of certain words. The most widely misused is the word ‘moot’. Besides the fact that some people think it’s ‘mute’, the people who refer to ‘moot points’ are referring to points that are no longer relevant because the subject has either already been decided or no longer matters due to other factors. But the actual definition of the word ‘moot’ is exactly the opposite. Moot actually means, “subject to debate, dispute, or uncertainty, and typically not admitting of a final decision.” So a moot point is a point that hasn’t been decided yet, but everyone uses it to mean a point that has been decided. Isn’t that weird? And there are others, like the word ‘peruse’. Most people think that if you’re ‘perusing’ a document it means you’re skimming over it, but ‘peruse’ actually means a thorough reading of a document, rather than a casual one.

    • Except, you are wrong in both cases. Yes, moot does have the meaning you specify but moot also means “of little or no practical value, meaning, or relevance.” Peruse also has multiple meanings, one being careful reading and the other meaning skimming. The irony here is that these words may have been misused enough in their original intent that the second, contrary definition now also applies, but these aren’t recent developments.

      • A word or phrase that is repeatedly misused can become so common that the incorrect usage is accepted by many; however, that absolutely does not render the original definition wrong. Chevdo’s definition of “peruse” was spot on. It means to study or read thoroughly.
        Regardless, most people use the word to describe skimming over something. The fact that the latter is more common, only means that we use it incorrectly… alot 🙂

      • I was right in both case and you contradicted yourself, as your conclusion was correct, but your claim I was wrong was not. Yes of course you will find various dictionaries that will cite the wrong, popular definitions of moot and peruse, because unfortunately there are no ‘rules’ on how language evolves, so common mistakes frequently become accepted. Most of the time this isn’t a problem because the new meaning does not conflict with the old one. However, with words like moot and peruse, the common mistake is the exact opposite of the true meaning. You think this isn’t a problem? If your lawyer tells you to peruse a document, and you skim it, failing to glean the knowledge required to avoid some kind of financial catastrophe, and then you sue your lawyer claiming he didn’t tell you to thoroughly read the document, only ‘peruse’ it, how do you think that will go for you in court? While it’s true that 50% of the population is has below average intelligence, maybe it’s time the other 50% stop letting the dumb half call society’s shots all the time. But I suppose in a post-truth world that’s wishful thinking. So maybe it’s time smart people simply ignore what dumb people are doing, and carry on using words properly, forming informed opinions, and generally excelling in life.

        • I wish I had more intelligent people like you in my life. Unfortunately, I seem to be surrounded by the usual idiots.

          The one that bothers me the most is the misuse (or unnecessary use) of the word, “literally.” It has been changed, even in some dictionaries, do you mean the exact opposite of what it was always intended to mean. People nowadays say idiotic things like, “my phone was literally ringing off the hook,” or, “that was so funny I literally died laughing.” Other times they simply use the word when it is obvious that they are speaking literally and therefore not necessary to emphasize that they were not speaking metaphorically or figuratively. For example, ” I was so cold I literally had to put my jacket on.” The idiots are taking over. They have been in control for a long time.

          • My 7 yr old would never use the word “literally” in the wrong context….but yes, I am drowning in the stupidity I see around me. Like the insistence the ME is real, even though it’s based on movies, ads, logos, history…..and especially because none of these things are remotely scientific, but the way the brain forms and stores memories is a fairly simple explanation and totally scientific.
            I’m a psychologist, I honestly think 1) some people use this for narcississtic supply “I have access to these parallel universes up to 98%”-a narcississt I know 2) People have become so disconnected in our World today due to technology, people are grasping for something to say they have “shared” with other people, such as a “shared memory” or “shared ability to go back and forth between parallel universes” as I’ve seen people discuss and 3) Something more sinister behind it all….as another diversion tactic to keep people from paying attention to more important things. Because the media, movies, almost all the advert cases, history etc has the same people behind them, and motive.

        • I concur. But it is scary to live in a world where (more than 50%) of the population have ‘lost’ (most) of their mental faculties (minds) already. Maybe it’s always been this way and the internet is now exposing this fact. Perhaps it is the result of ‘the Illuminati’ using mass media (conspiracy theory) – as in ‘THEY’ are making this happen as part of the ‘plan’ to turn humans into mindless ‘consumers’ or something horrid like that .
          But be that as it may, this ‘collective’ stupidity is kind of scary/surreal to say the least.

      • And by the way you will also find plenty of reputable dictionaries whose editors refuse to add contradictory definitions to words like moot and peruse, because they know better.

        • Yes, those idiots at Merriam-Webster still say that “moot” can mean obsolete…don’t they know that it only means what Chevdo says it means?

    • 2 far more misused words in the English language are COW and BATTERY. You can’t call cattle a cow unless you observe it’s genitals to confirm that it is female. And you can’t call an AA battery that because it is actually a cell, whereas a battery is a group of cells. You can try to correct people, but U will rarely succeed. My guess is that 99.99% of people use these two words incorrectly.

      With regard to the Mandela Effect, one of the most obvious explanations is that: if you repeat it loud enough and often enough it becomes the “truth”.
      All of history’s most effective leaders knew this and consciously, specifically implement it to their great advantage…it is the foundation of religion, shamanism, racism, Nazis, Maoists, scientific dogma, stock market bubbles, etc. Mass delusions, rule of the mob, mass psychology, mass media, social media, now fake news & Trumpism.

      • Smart. I think there’s more to it than mass hypnosis, which is the foundation of everything you mentioned….or not. It’s quite powerful as history has proven!
        Regarding the “battery”…you contradicted yourself on saying a group of cells is called a battery and a battery is a cell (singular). It can’t be both,
        Same thing with cattle (plural) and cow (singular).

  3. I remember “Looney Tunes” from my childhood (1980s) which you claim to be the modified version. It was still “Tunes” back then.

    It’s you being english-speaking people that are the problem. When you heard “Looney Tunes” you “expected” the word to be “Toons” because it’s short for “Cartoons”. And it sounds similiar. So you have confabulated original “Looney Tunes” to be “Toons”. This is commonly happening.

    Please also note that all of the Mandela effects always sound similiar to the original texts it’s never something completely out of place – e.g. “Hooney Worm” instead of “Looney Tunes”. Pretty much in the same way people write “their” instead or “they’re” or “there” in any possible combination. They think about the meaning but unconsciously use incorrect word to describe it. Same with “Toons” (short for “Cartoons”) instead of “Tunes”.

    • I remember it as having always been Looney Tunes as well. Your point about the expectation of how a word is spelled based on its phonetic pronunciation is the cause for many of the so-called Mandela Effects. It’s the same with misquotes from movies or TV shows, since a certain phrase that is repeated, parodied, and referenced over and over using the wrong version of the quote gets imprinted onour collective minds.

      For Looney Tunes, though, it was always spelled “Tunes” since it was a parody of Disney’s Merrie Melodies cartoons, using an adjective and then a musical reference for both titles. (And yes, before anyone says anything about it, Disney’s was always spelled “Merrie” rather than “Merry.”)

  4. You are missing the Oscar MAyer / Oscar MEyer Mandela effect. I definitely spent my last 40 years under the mistaken assumption it was MEYER, only to find i am far from alone

    • How could you miss the Oscar Mayer? “My bologna has a second name it’s M-a-y-e-r.” Richard D. Trentlage made sure it was etched in memory correctly. However, I’m sure there are millions who remember it as baloney…

  5. The simplest explanation is very often the correct one.
    So it is very easy to debunk most or even all of the current outlandish ‘Mandela’ theories. It’s more than likely all caused by a simple human ‘failing’ or consequence of our brains constantly trying to comprehend the world around us by taking shortcuts and filling in any blanks. For example, our eyes take in much more information than our brains can cope with and so our brains rationalise it all and see shapes in clouds etc etc.
    One possibly excellent example of our brains in action, is the ‘Mandela’ scene in the Bond movie where the character ‘Jaws’ meets the love of his life. He smiles at her to reveal his metal teeth and she smiles back to reveal her braces and it’s love at first sight. That’s how many remember the scene, however… it didn’t happen. She had no braces.
    Now, the producer missed a trick there because the scene would have made much more sense if she did have braces. So have our memories just re-compiled the scene to make it more rational?
    But just one final point after all the debunking. Before ruling out any outlandish theories we also have to accept that science itself is in a state of confusion just now – and has been for 100 years or more. Particle physicists examining the minute world of everything around us have discovered a very real problem with our reality, something which just gets left hidden in the science cupboard so we don’t have to actually freak out about it. If you’ve not heard about this do some research!

    • I assume you are referring to the fact that our reality doesn’t actually exist? I came to grips with that at about age 10. lol. Consciousness is the only thing we should be studying, any physical aspects of the subatomic realm being tested outside the context of their direct interaction with some conscious based control, are pointless tests. Buuuuut what do we know right! Fuck the millions of people who are out there saying, “Ummm… really? At this point are you still not able to come to grips with this consciousness thing?” lol.

    • They are loosing control of the prisons reality and it’s enslaved souls are finally waking up and seeing what all true beings of light can. Achems razor or explanations of mass delision won’t work and are futile answers. Scientists aren’t desperate to find answers when science has hidden the the very cause for years. Mass religion and the dark sciences must face the reality they have choosen. Forever will they be locked in it. Prepare yourselves the children of light are here.

  6. My personal experience. Always Been Oscar Meyer, Always been Fruit Loops, (What the hell is a Froot), Field of Dreams always said, If you build it, THEY will come. I put up a gym from scratch and I use to say that exact same saying because of that movie.

    Here is proof.

    How about the end of the song by queen, We are the champions. Who can explain that, the bible passages where it changed from Lions to Wolves, I can go on and on but it serves no purpose as people are always going to hate, debunk or go against the grain.

    • Who’s going against the grain? The way memory works in the brain, totally scientific and proven. Advertising and movies….not a science. I was watching “…and the Oscar goes to” last night, and they showed that clip “If you build it, they will come”…..I don’t know what the other version allegedly is, but there are so many reasonable explanations I would have to rule out before going, OMG! I’m so weirded out!
      One being movies are shot multiple ways, a scene can be shown multiple ways, & a famous line like that or the “box of chocolates” line are repeated so much in so many different areas of life, the brain will not remember both (it has more important things to do), so there you go.
      Why are ALL of the ME movies, TV, advertising, history? That doesn’t give you a clue?
      BTW, there are 2 verses in the Bible one is a lamb& wolf, the other more famous lamb & lion. Someone got their verses confused. I hear outlandish claims like this, the Bible didn’t change, someone’s memory did, they pointed it out, then people agreed (mass thinking)..
      Just read how the brain forms memories and over time are subject to change.
      This has been going on since the beginning of time, the only difference now is someone has decided to label it, freak people out, & become invested in it.

      And explain ONE thing to me, why are all ME distant & shared? Why doesn’t someone say “I remember when my MOM DIED IN THE 80’s”….but she didn’t. No one had any emotional investment in Mandela, South Africa, his imprisonment, release, who has the Mandela Effect!!!! Ask any South African, 19 million voted in the FIRST DEMOCRATIC ELECTION EVER in their Country, I promise they won’t remember him dying in the 80’s!
      Ask someone from New Zealand (or Iceland) if their country has moved recently. NO.
      Another psychological trick the mind plays, when you make up your mind about something like the ME, when faced with evidence to the contrary, instead of changing your mind the mind will become MORE DETERMINED and work overtime to prove the original belief correct. (Hitler Germany, Stalin, Mussolini controlled their populations this way, in fact, all military operations depend on the unwavering belief of the soldiers and the belief of the people at home). It’s called many things, it’s surely mass thinking. That’s a scientific FACT.

  7. Seriously, please debunk the ‘Moonraker’ one.

    Today I was asking a friend of mine who is also quite a movie-freak – and he ALSO swore that he remembers the scene with the young woman having a “metal mouth” – and also: I was counting on this!

    Now, what the hell! the most rational explanation MUST be, that this is a kind of mass-delusion; like mass-hypnosis. I know of no other example.

  8. Mandela effect is a psychological operation, some might remember it as CIA others NSA, spread through social media. It is a study in manipulation. People who thought Mandela died in prison may have conflated the death of another black leader like Steve Biko with Mandela since we are inclined in memory function to group things to recall them. If anyone was following events in South Africa then they would be fully aware of his rise to leadership of that country. As for the other examples, I note nothing of any consequence is offered up as an example, mostly trivial things that we do not spend much time focusing on, cultural background noise, the V W logo, the Chick-Fil-A logo, mirror mirror. The most interesting aspect is how easily people are being coopted to belief. My interest in conspiracy does not embrace Mandela effect but while I find credible evidence of cover up of 9 1 1 the Mandela effect theory smells of social manipulation via a psychological operation on social media.

  9. There have always been subtle changes or shifts, most if not all can be attributed to trends that align regional, national to international branding.

    The English language itself has diversity, many forms, it is not uncommon to hear and perceive incorectangular? WTF, Dam predictive texting.

    Exercise rational thinking and stay off YouTube, especially if you have the susceptibility to fits of paranoia.

    After 48hrs of studying the Mandela effect, i’m inspired by a few, but bored to death with the idiocy of most.

    Take your flat earth, bernstein bears, volkswagon, predictive text and get a funking life.

    If you worship a God, you just might not like want you find.


  10. The Mandela Effect MUST be a real thing because a very clear memory I have from the past has now changed into something completely different and I don’t know why.

    I can distinctly recall years ago that the world WAS NOT overrun with gullible idiots. Or at least that’s what I thought.

    But that’s now completely changed! Now it seems that the world IS overrun with gullible idiots.

    Mic drop.

  11. Another thought on Bearenstain vs Bearenstein, I recall in the early 1990s when the tv show Seinfeld was on, lots of people called it and him Steinfeld, because people were used to ‘stein’ but ‘sein’ is far less popular in names, so people were inclined to make the mistake of call him Steinfeld. Some even called him Steinfield, because ‘feld’ was too foreign for them. It took a long time, but nowadays everyone can say the name Seinfeld. I think the same thing happened with Bearenstain Bears, and that the effect is probably amplified in children who have so much less exposure to the world than adults do. So when we’re children we naturally call then Bearenstein, because that sounds right to us. And we never correct ourselves like we did with Seinfeld because once we grow out of Bearenstain Bears stories we don’t revisit them. The long process of fixing our mistake never happens like it did with Seinfeld…

  12. There’s actually a very simple explanation for the Mandela effect that seems to have been overlooked. I call it “memory compression.” In other words, the brain makes every effort to store memories as compactly and economically as possible. “mirror mirror” takes less effort to recall than “magic mirror.” Pikachu’s tail and both ears having a black tip is easier to recall than ears having a black tip and tail not. “Berenstein” makes a lot more sense than “Berenstain.” Note that NO proper name ends in “-stain” but many end in “-stein.” Human brains are not designed for perfect recall. They evolved to do a “good enough” job. The Mandela effect is an artifact of that design. Humans don’t need perfect recollection in order to reproduce effectively.

  13. There are a couple of these I simply can’t explain away. Up until about 2010, I would have bet money that the children’s book was spelled Bernstein, not Berenstain. I used to collect those when I was a kid. If it was always stain then I would have said it that way. The new member of the village people is shocking to me. I never remember the military guy. Vader had always said “Luke, I am your father.” The original actor who played Vader said that he said Luke instead of “no.” Tony the Tiger looks weird with a blue nose now. I will admit that most of them are just my brain switching around information, but these examples I just can’t wrap my mind around.

  14. I would say it’s worth investigating a lot of recorded Mandela effects before you jump to conclusions on it being a case of human error. Don’t get me wrong, Im with Sagan on the whole “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” but you shouldn’t lump them all together. Evidence alone would be a starting point.

  15. Speak Plain English first of all. The first paragraph let me know that you were trying to confuse people. The main Mandela facts are millions of people with memories that they grew up with not some other effects!!! I I used to eat Jiffy ( Always JIF???? NOOOO!!!!) penut butter, Specifically made mom buy it because I loved it) and Darth Vader said Luke I am your father not know I mean father!!!! But somehow all of us in the kitchen at work remember to Luke I am your father and when my friend watches VHS it is changed that’s the f*****-up part. Looking to sign into CERN and quantum computers but first of all just open your eyes and understand none of us understand we’re trying to figure it out

  16. Oops speech to text, . But you got the point, Darth V said LUKE I am your father. Just look at the change in the human skull(eyes), look at the china rainbow mountains that where never there!!! look up Forrest Gump saying life Was a box of chocolates, Not IS a box of chocolates ?????. Come on now…..

  17. Time travel has now been made possible and they are changing little things to see if it works and by the looks of it, its working..
    Or certain things have happened that has changed all information (video, audio, words)
    Both , in my opinion are related to CERN 🙂

    As stated above, your telling me that all of us are going insane. Ive dismissed all the above possible reasons as cods wallop. The reasons are disinformation

  18. Does anyone else feel like they kind of remember Michelle Obama running for president of the US and winning in 2016. I feel like I remember it being a super big deal and her not running against Trump (or him running at all).

    But I ALSO vividly remember Trump vs Hillary. It’s like I have all the memories of two separate timelines.

  19. Good example of your mind grasping at straws to put together a memory you didn’t feel was of great significants, is the thinker Mandela effect , ppl mistaken the statues stance and thinking he be tim tebowing it . Lol the mind is nuts. And omg ppl its been 50 states for almost 100 years. And you could have Googled that. If it had been I so called Mandela affect there would be no way to dubunk so all you had to do was grab a map of earth or globe then count the states for yourself . If there was ever 52 what are the two other states named? And for Americans everywhere plz don’t say Alaska and Hawaii for those are counted in the original and only 50 states. So to clear up , not a Mandela affect in the first place for the fact that you can find correct number of states just by counting since answer to how many states is always a number it always exists , in the question Volkswagen logo is v over a W or v over a W with space between the two . Answer is the second one . And is a mandela affect because if you google said first logo or search it you will not find such logo , it does not exist. So not an effect you ppl that thought was are dumb , if you that was affect and America had 52 states I beg you to wear a helmet when in public . It will save your life .

  20. Two examples that go WAY beyond spelling. The first example is the theme song and intro to the TV. show The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. There is an entire section in the middle that has been added that was NEVER there before. See here:

    I’ve tried to find the original, can’t, doesn’t exist. So this isn’t just some extended version, the old version is just gone!

    Next is the JFK assacination. Before you click on the link please first think about how many people you remember in the car and how many seats the car had. That’s all I’m going to say. See here:

    • In reruns, TV show themes are very, very often cut down. You are remembering the version that played first run before it was cut. Simple.

  21. I think another explanation to things like movie quotes could have something to do with the difference between scenes shown in a trailer and the scenes that actually wound up in the movie. Four instance, I remember when forced Gump first came out. I don’t remember if the exact quote was, “life IS like a box of chocolates,” or, “life WAS like a box of chocolates.” However, I do recall that when he said that in the trailer his mouth was not full of chocolates. In the final cut of the movie it was. Is it not also a possibility that when Star Wars first came out it showed a scene in the trailer where Darth Vader says, “Luke, I am your father,” rather than, “no, I am your father,” as it appeared in the final cut of the movie? It would make sense that people would remember the first rendition of a movie quote over the final version. Sort of the same thing happened when Tina Fey did an impression of Sarah Palin on SNL in which she said something about being able to see Russia from her house. This became commonly accepted in the media as being a Sarah Palin quote, rather than a Tina Fey quote.

  22. I was introduced to this nincompoopery yesterday by two friends (or charlatans); who flit from one belief system to another – flat Earth. Next month they will believe some other nonsense on YouTube, and I will be told that every chocolate shake I have ever drunk has made me taller. Although, you have to view yourself on Earth; from the surface of the Moon, while wearing your jockeys on your head to experience the effect.

    I systematically debunked everything they put forward championing the Mandela Effect, and it was a breeze. They didn’t even know the origins of the myth, or anyone attached to it.

    I actually look forward to locking horns with the malleable acolytes of YouTube, as it’s an easy win; all day – every day.

    They, and all other silly sausages – can bite my big bang.

  23. Wow no one said that the pole reversal could be a possible theory As it is related to magnetic force’s around earth becoming unstable as they reversing as that energy is enough to get parallel dimensions to overlap each other creating the Mandela effect. This explains everything as its related to the earth changes that are happening already.

  24. One cannot discount that there is a possibility that we live in a world that is NOT exactly what we think. For those of you calling people that believe the Mandela effect “idiots” and the like, you should open your minds. Seriously, everything in the Universe is a VAST mystery. From the activity of atoms and their energies (never mind that atoms are NOT tangible, and YET matter IS)——————open your minds, people. Step away from your everyday way of thinking. Physics is NOT logical.

    • Sure we can discount it. There’s no proof of it, at all. There is plenty of proof of physics. There is more than enough proof the fallibility of memory.

  25. I am being as unbiased as possible… It is true that we may have overlooked simple spellings and spelt things the way we preferred etc…. Simple, psychological explanations…. For me personally, some things are eerily and disturbingly different now from my very clear memory of them. I think it’s happening…. subsequently some people are over sensationalizing and looking for “evidence”…. Both phenomena are true.

  26. As far as Nelson Mandela goes, I think people confused his death with Steve Biko, who did die in prison. I remember there was an album for South Africa in the ’80s, with various artists. I believe there was a song about Biko and a song about Mandela (“Free Nelson Mandela”). I think people just got confused as the years went by.

  27. Believe what you want? But really most not all people have been deluded of reality and have been forced by mis information from your wealthy 1%… If you believe reality is what you see then I am sorry to tell you you are so, so wrong… We know nothing of the real truth.. Maybe if some of you can think on your own just maybe things will change… Really “LOOK’ at what is told to you and don’t believe anything you are told and believe half of what you see???? Use your “Minds” and not just your brain? A huge difference…

  28. If this was an isolated incident or only a few people or even 10k people than I would agree that its the memory and not anything else. But when you have thousands of people who remember the exact same thing, than theres got to be something to it. I did an experiment, where I went to people who know nothing about the Mandela Effect and I never mentioned anything about it. I asked them a series of questions regarding the spelling of certain words like Berenstain or Sex In the City etc. Each person spelled the words or remembered the incident the exact way the Mandela Effect says. Many of these people are Mothers or Fathers and swear they know that the word is Bernstein Bears, not Berenstain Bears and they all laugh at the ‘Stain’ part of the word and say its no way a Stain. The one that really gets me is the one from the Bible where the Sheep Shall lie with the Lions not the Wolves lol. I know preachers whose job it is to memorize words and one of their favorite verses is that very one. So, its sad that people would dismiss or criticize possibly millions of people who believe that there are some weird things happening. Like i said, if its a few than you can dismiss but its way too many who believe theres some anomaly or something strange happening.

  29. I got interested in the Mandela effect because I also remember it being stein. What I find most interesting about it is the fact I am awful at spelling. That seems to be a trait shared with a lot of people claiming the Mandela effect is valid. That would be an interesting study, to see how many people who believe in the effect or just hold that false memory and their spelling rated to those who do not.
    All the same it is a really fun idea, it would make a great comic book or tv series.

  30. It looks like all meS have a better explanation than cern , how boring and disappointing. Still, that doesn’t mean parallel universes don’t exist, can someone debunk that idea?

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