What is the Mandela Effect?

Answer

The Mandela Effect is the phenomenon of people’s collective misremembering of specific facts or events. It occurs when someone has a clear “memory” of something that never actually happened. The Mandela Effect is often associated with peculiar conspiracy theories involving parallel universes, intersecting alternate realities, and time travel. One principle of these theories is that history is actively being altered, which clarifies why we recall something differently from how history documents it. Some even suggest that changes are being made in the Holy Scriptures as well.

The term Mandela Effect was coined by Fiona Broome, a writer and paranormal consultant, in 2010. Ms. Broome elaborates on the Mandela Effect on her website: “Many of us—mostly strangers—recall the same events with identical details. However, our recollections differ from what is found in history books, newspaper archives, and so forth.” The term is a tribute to South African leader Nelson Mandela. It appears that a group of individuals had a false recollection of Nelson Mandela passing away in prison in the 1980s (he actually passed away in December 2013). Conspiracy theorists speculate that when a significant number of people share a similar false memory, the event is connected to “alternate history” or “parallel realities.” In Mandela’s case, theorists would argue that he did pass away in the 1980s (in one universe) and he did pass away in 2013 (in another universe). People have memories of both occurrences because they have been “sliding” between the two realities unknowingly. Despite how absurd these theories may seem, Ms. Broome has garnered a substantial online following, authoring articles and books and delivering speeches on related topics.

The Mandela Effect and its ensuing conspiracy theory gained momentum when boxing legend Muhammad Ali passed away in June 2016 at the age of 74. Many individuals claimed to remember him having passed away several years earlier.Liar. There are other instances of the Mandela Effect, such as the belief that Hurricane Katrina did not hit the Gulf Coast in August 2005 but rather four months earlier.

Another common example of the Mandela Effect involves the “Tank Man”—the iconic image of a young man blocking a tank at Tiananmen Square in China in 1989. Many people today claim the protester who stood in front of the tanks was run over by the tanks. They say they were taught this in school, read it in their textbooks, watched the footage, and can still visualize it perfectly according to their memory. In reality, the man was never run over.

Here are some other, less dramatic examples of the Mandela Effect:

– Most of us remember the evil queen in Disney’s version of Snow White saying, “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” In reality, the queen says, “Magic mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?”

– The imperative “Play it again, Sam” is never spoken in the classic film Casablanca, although that movie “quote” is a familiar one in most people’s minds.

– In The Empire Strikes Back, Darth Vader doesn’t say, “Luke, I am your father,” as many of us recall. Actually, he says, “No, I am your father.”

– The Statue of Liberty is not and never has been on Ellis Island.

Psychiatrists have provided an explanation for the Mandela Effect—the misinformation effect. Referring to a 30-year study on the malleability of memory, an article in the scientific journal Learning and Memory attributes what others call the Mandela Effect to “the impairment in memory for the past that arises after exposure to misleading information” (Loftus, E: F: “Planting Misinformation in the Human Mind: A 30-year Investigation ofThe Malleability of Memory:” Learning and Memory: 2005;12:361-366). If you haven’t paid close attention to something, the details of it can become blurred in your mind at the suggestion of others. In some cases, the misinformation can actually overwrite your original memory, especially if it’s presented in a way that makes it seem more plausible.

In examining the Mandela Effect, we must remember that information passed on by others, whether it’s seen, read, or heard, isn’t always factual. If we are exposed to intrusive or contradictory information over time, our memories can change or become distorted. Repeat a lie often enough, and people will believe it. This “misinformation effect” is one reason why courtroom workers try to preserve the integrity of a witness’s testimony and seek jurors who are not influenced by outside reports and speculation.

Instances of the Mandela Effect are proof that humans spread misinformation and that we all have faulty memories. The Mandela Effect has nothing to do with a multiverse or parallel realities. The truth is that some people would rather believe the entire universe to be flawed than admit themselves at fault.

We live in an age of “fake news” as incorrect information is widely circulated and shared by unsuspecting (or maybe not-so-innocent) people. Of course, being human, we will at times inadvertently misperceive, misread, misinterpret, or misunderstand things. We need discernment and true biblical wisdom to inhibit the effects of the daily bombardment of distortions and half-truths. Followers of Jesus are to be “wise as serpents” « Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. », (Matthew 10:16).

Remarkably enough, there are some who cite the Mandela Effect theory to claim that changes are being made to the Bible. For example, many people will think they recognize the statement

Many people mistakenly attribute the phrase “The lion will lie down with the lamb” to Scripture, but it is not accurate. In Isaiah 11:6, it actually states, “The wolf will live with the lamb, / the leopard will lie down with the goat, / the calf and the lion and the yearling together.” Some individuals argue that the Bible originally mentioned the lion lying down with the lamb, but it seems to have been altered—either that, or we have entered an alternate universe. A more plausible explanation is that individuals are not as familiar with the Bible as they believe, and they have allowed artwork and misquotations from others to influence their recollections. There is no evidence to suggest that the Bible is being tampered with by a malevolent time-traveler or that we are shifting between parallel realities.

Christians should reject the implausible theories associated with the Mandela Effect and anything else that “promotes controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work— which is by faith” «neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. », (1 Timothy 1:4).