The Phenomenon of Mutual Misremembered Experiences: An Examination of the Mandela Effect
Peeking Back at Fascinating Tales from Yesteryears
Remember that gut-wrenching feeling when you're darn sure about something, only to realize your memory had tricked you, and you were dead wrong? Yeah, that weird, misunderstood concept called false memories can be so convincing that we seldom question their validity. Denise Cullen, in September 2023, delved deep into this bizarre phenomenon we like to call the Mandela Effect.
Just imagine finding out that a reputed figure is alive, when you're positive you remember their funeral, and watched the heartbroken eulogies - only to discover that the death was just a false memory. This was exactly what happened to Fiona Broome in 2009. Yup, that Nelson Mandela, the human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner, who was still breathing, contrary to what Fiona's memory claimed.
Memory isn't just a simple recall process; it's an active, engaging effort. Fiona would have chalked it up to a memory malfunction. But after learning that many others shared the same false memory, she began to suspect it was more than just a glitch. It was a sign of alternative universes, rooted in the many-worlds theory of quantum physics[3].
The Mandela Effect has since given birth to an intriguing field of psychological research, aimed at understanding why people create false memories. We're drawn to common misremembrances of celebrities, logos, or cultural icons like Rich Uncle Pennybags (without a monocle), Pikachu (black-tipped tail, my foot), and the location of New Zealand (some folks insist it's north-east of Australia, but sorry, it's south-east[6]).
Wilma Bainbridge, a researcher from the University of Chicago, has been obsessed with memory since her team discovered that people are surprisingly consistent in what they remember[7]. In 2011, Phillip Isola and his colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that memorability is a property shared by images across viewers[8]. Their findings showed that low-level visual attributes, aesthetics, interest, or saliency can't fully explain memorability.
Researchers at MIT, including Bainbridge, then noticed a consistent pattern in human faces being remembered or forgotten, which couldn't solely be attributed to attractiveness or perceived trustworthiness[7]. It was Isola's paper in 2011, Bainbridge's in 2013, and their subsequent work that sparked the study of the Mandela Effect.
Bainbridge and her colleague at The University of Chicago, Deepasri Prasad, conducted a groundbreaking study in which they confirmed the existence of the visual Mandela Effect[8]. Over a series of experiments, they found shared false memories in characters like the Monopoly Man, Pikachu, Curious George, and symbols like the Volkswagen logo and Waldo from "Where's Waldo?" These findings provided much-needed scientific backing for the Mandela Effect phenomenon.
The common generation of errors during both short-term and long-term recall suggests there's something inherent in these images that leads people to produce the same kinds of fallacies. Researchers are only now beginning to investigate what that might be. Bainbridge and her team's research focus on broader questions about why some images stand out as inherently memorable.
With the Mandela Effect, it seems we recall with startling clarity details that never actually happened. Our brains have a tendency to blur reality and imagination, sometimes in mysterious ways. Over time, these distorted recollections grow stranger and more elaborate. Some people even insist a dead celebrity contacted them or claim they witnessed historical events that never took place.
It's mind-boggling to think about our fallible brains creating vivid, believable memories of events that never happened or were never seen before. But as Bainbridge puts it, "It's pretty amazing."
Originally published by Cosmos as Why Do We Collectively Misremember? The Mandela Effect Explained
Enrichment Data:The Mandela Effect is a widespread phenomenon in which a significant number of people recall events, details, or facts differently from actual history. Famous examples include Nelson Mandela's reported death in prison, the Pokémon character Pikachu with a black-tipped tail, and Rich Uncle Pennybags wearing a monocle (he doesn't[1]).
The origin of Mandela Effects is rooted in flawed human memory, which often relies on subjective experiences, social interactions, and cognitive biases. People create false memories due to:
- Memory Reconstruction and Suggestibility: Our memories are reconstructed under the influence of external information, leading to alterations and errors in our recollections[5].
- Social Reinforcement: Discussing shared memories and affirming each other's erroneous recollections strengthens the false memories and reinforces the belief that they are true[5].
- Cognitive Biases: We rely on prior knowledge and schemas that can shape and fill in memory gaps, leading to inaccuracies[5].
- Memory Distortions and Forgetting: Normal memory processes can introduce errors and fill in missing details, especially under stress or in early childhood[5].
- Psychological Escape Mechanisms: While not centrally related to the Mandela Effect, emotional shocks and anxiety can affect memory reliability and result in altered or forgotten memories[2].
The field of psychology has delved into the intriguing phenomenon of the Mandela Effect, where large groups of people inexplicably share false memories. This has lead to studies in science, particularly in health-and-wellness and mental-health, about the factors causing such false memories such as memory reconstruction and suggestibility, social reinforcement, cognitive biases, memory distortions and forgetting, and psychological escape mechanisms. In the realm of nutrition, understanding the Mandela Effect could provide insights into better memory retention, as memories are not just simple recall processes, but an active engagement of the brain that can be influenced by various factors.
