From the “Mirror, Mirror on the wall” line from Snow White or the “Luke, I am your father from Star Wars: Episode V—The Empire Strikes Back, none of them are true.
However, if most of us have some memory of these things being true or rather thinking that they might be true, does that mean we are living the same lives, like NPCs in a simulation?
What Is The Meaning Of The Mandela Effect And How It Works
For the uninitiated, the Mandela Effect refers to an event which people falsely believe to be true even if it isn’t. I listed out some examples in the introduction and while it is cool to think that we might be in on a common joke, the Mandela Effect is much more than that.
Most of us think we lead unique lives, but we really don’t. That’s why memes are so relatable, because most of us have experienced the event described in the meme. That is why we find it endearing, funny even. However, to no fault of our own, the internet and the world around us has played a huge part in possibly alternating our memory, for better or for worse.
The biggest question on everyone’s mind in regards to this topic is, why does the Mandela Effect even happen? There are multiple theories and plausible causes from priming till the implementation of false memories to even alternate realities. Yes, alternate realities. Let’s look at each of them.
Cause #1: Priming
The brain works in mysterious ways. In Priming, the introduction of a given stimulus will give rise to a subsequent stimulus without no intention or thought. For example, if I say the word salt, you are more likely to associate salt with pepper because they are often used together in the same context i.e. salt and pepper. Essentially, it is the fact that previously known information often influences the processes of subsequent information.
Cause #2: False Memories
The memories of humans can easily be influenced or suggested. Distorted memories are incorrect recollections of things that have happened in your past. It happens most of the time and it isn’t anyone’s fault. Even the internet can influence memories, although we will talk about that later. The point being, false memories are also causation for the Mandela Effect to occur.
Cause #3: Post Event Information
In simple words, information presented after an event, whether positive or negative, can influence or change the memory of how you felt when you were in the midst of it. For example, if you walk out of a movie thinking it was good, but your friends point out a flaw in it, you might overanalyze and change your opinion of it after all.
Cause #4: Confabulation
Essentially, if you have incomplete memories or missing pieces of information, your brain fills in the rest to make more sense of it. Everyone’s process of confabulation is different and this tends to increase more as age rises. This cannot be considered lying because we remember things that did not occur.
Cause #5: Alternate Reality
I know this sounds quite farfetched but there is no way to disprove this theory as well. Quantum physics suggest that events of several timelines are blending into ours completely changing our reality. That is why some people have the same memories because the timeline keeps alternating and we continuously shift between realities.
This might not sound especially believable but the idea that this could one of the causes of the Mandela Effect keeps people quite interested.
How The Internet Has Increased The Influence Of The Mandela Effect
With the amount of information you can find on the internet, almost everything becomes believable. One person would say that carbs are good for you while others would disprove that. There are a variety of opinions scattered across a myriad of topics related to the human experience.
People create communities based on false information and gain traction because there is a high chance that if you have certain beliefs, you are guaranteed to find someone who thinks the same way as you do. If certain individuals who have more following or influence advertise a false event in a grandiose fashion, their followers would believe them to be true.
With this false information engrained in people, the world can become an even more dangerous place than it already is. Our only solution to the Mandela Effect is to find out proper evidence from encyclopedias, peer reviewed journeys or other reliable new sources and then think critically for ourselves. Just because it has a blue check mark, doesn’t mean its reliable.
If you like to read more stuff like this, visit the Essay section of The Introverted Bubble.