Amna Rizvi
1/15/24
What exactly is the surprising yet scary Mandela Effect? As Forbes puts it, The Mandela Effect is “A fascinating phenomenon in which people share a collective memory that never happened, [sparking] discussions about the nature of memories, reality[,] and even the possibility of parallel universes” (McDermott). Examples of The Mandela Effect include the false belief that Pikachu has a black zig-zag on his tail, Mr. Monopoly wears monocles, and Mickey Mouse wears suspenders on his shorts (Erdenekhuyag).
The Mandela effect was named after Nelson Mandela in 2010 because many people were misled that he died in the 1980s when he was in reality alive (at the time). Thousands swore he was dead and remembered seeing “news coverage of Mandela’s death, though such events never occurred” (McDermott). So what exactly causes this effect to confuse millions of people today?
According to researchers, The Mandela Effect is still not entirely explored, but we do have a few possible explanations for the effect. One major reason includes false memories and believing certain things existed at a young age (which were incorrect), which continue to carry on throughout our lives (McDermott). We don’t realize it, but “[r]esearch shows false memories can result from misrepresentations in our working, short-term and long-term memories, meaning our recall of certain details or events can become distorted over time” (McDermott). For example, because most monkeys have tails but Curious George doesn’t, it leads us to believe from a young age that he has a tail too. Because Curious George is a childhood show, the belief that he fits the description of a “regular monkey’s anatomy” carries with us for many years.
Another big factor that can cause the Mandela Effect is through social media. Since social media involves heavy repetition over multiple characters and scenarios, it causes us to stick with what is being repeated even if it is untrue. Dr. Schiff continues this point, emphasizing that “[seeing] stories online or posts or comments on social media where more people are providing incorrect details become incorporated into your memory as facts” (McDermott).
One way to think of the Mandela Effect on our memory is through the telephone game. In the telephone game, in which a sentence is whispered only once from one person to another, it is common for people to hear things slightly differently than the person who whispered it to them (Nall). Just one mistake then spreads to the rest of the line, affecting the rest of the people playing. People remember things slightly differently for similar reasons to The Mandela Effect, such as misinterpretations from the person before and filling in words that make sense to us but were never actually said (Nall).
Overall, The Mandela Effect is extremely intriguing and can change previous thoughts that many people have believed for years. The effect truly shows how much social media, false ideas, and misinterpretation can confuse people for so long without realizing it.
MLA
McDermott, Nicole. “What Is The Mandela Effect? Examples And Causes.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 4 Nov. 2024, www.forbes.com/health/mind/mandela-effect/.
Erdenekhuyag, Enji. TodayShow. “What Is the Mandela Effect? You’ll Know after You See These 50 Examples.” TODAY.Com, 1 July 2024, www.today.com/life/mandela-effect-examples-rcna81130.
Nall, Rachel. “The Mandela Effect: What It Is and How It Happens.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 13 Mar. 2020, www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/mandela-effect#symptoms.