Is the Mandella Effect Real? Probably not.

It's now everyday that we are looking at a cascade of new “proof” that our reality is essentially vibrating and getting caught up in subtle changes.

Tidy Cat
OxyClean
Sally Fields
Sex in The City
Oscar Meyer
Curious George
C3PO

The list is endless, but serves as a reminder for how many things we may remember wrong, especially if those memories are implied immediately beforehand.

I believe for many of us, the Mandela Effect could have just as well been named the Berenstain Effect. Berenstain was, in fact, my very first introduction into these happenings. I was just so sure of my being right that it had never been spelled like that. I viewed pages and videos, all while reminding myself that I have been decent in grammar, and I have plenty of credentials to back all of that up. Along with myself, other grammar scholars joined in, sure of what they knew to be the truth, they just needed to be introduced to it first.

And this is where many of us forgot something along the way. The Berenstain Bears were popularized in a television show that we watched in preschool and books that we looked at in preschool. The truth is that most of us were not very good at spelling back then. I am also very sure of moving on to better books at about the time I learned to read silently, 2nd grade in my case. And from at minimum the age of 7 and until now, some 20+ years later, I am fairly certain I have failed to read a single Berenstain book. So then, why was I so absolutely sure that it had not been spelled Berenstain?

I looked over it and even went to rewatch the opening of the show.
The Berenstain Bears TV Show Opening
Do you remember that opening? I certainly did not, I couldn't even begin to sing along, but I noticed a twang in the singer's voice that made it sound just like I remembered it being spelt.

It has now dawned on me that I am a part of a generation brought up on a healthy dose of television. Even though the majority of my childhood had been spent hiking and reading, the earliest parts were filled with the electric babysitter.

I haven't spent a great deal in marketing, in fact, I avoid commercials as much as possible. That said, I have never studied logos to any extent and could not tell you if Tidy Cats was at one time singular, or about the “e”, “a”, debate in Oscar Mayer, and OxiClean, I just liked the salesman and I know how to spell oxygen, but up until I was told to, I have never really thought about the stuff. Sex and the City was never a thing for me, but honestly, who would have paid that much attention to one syllable conjunctions and prepositions that essentially sound the same?

The removal of your bias is very important when approaching a subject like this. This is the exact thing that snake oil salesman will use to sell you, and they do it the same way they always have. Reaffirming your belief in what they just sold you. Every video watched, every writeup read, all say the same thing in one form or another.

“This is how you remember this, remember”?

It's the easiest sale in the world and most people buy it because of their ego. The customer is always right and this time is no different. In fact, they have proof, all they need you to do is remember the way they wish you to. There are always these salesman in science and they play on the religious mindset and the human ego.

As far as I can tell, most everyone became attached to this theory with the spelling of Berenstain and the time of death in regards to anti-apartheid revolutionary Nelson Mandela. And what about the man that this effect was so aptly named for? Well, he was the first South African president in the 90's, something I don't recall at all in history, but history was a while back and if there is something that us on both sides of this fence can agree on, it's the fact that the U.S. public education system, something that I am a product of, certainly has its' shortcomings, especially when it comes to up to date history books. I do recall him being imprisoned, but nothing after that, other than revolutionaries and death always intermingle.

This isn't to provide proof one way or the other. I can certainly not disprove parallel dimensions anymore than I can disprove reality only existing for one person at a time. All I am trying to do is make you aware that much of this theory is being heavily influenced with the formation of words and sentences. Think critically at all times and approach these things with a grain of salt, regardless of what the unsourced masses say.

a reply to: ventian

If you mean things are remembered differently by oneself and even others sharing the same topic, subject, incident, historical event?

Yes. That is absolutely true.

a reply to: mysterioustranger

That is exactly what I am referring to. This is people misinterpreting the past and having thoughts planted in their heads IMO.

Not a real phenomenon as in different timelines etc, yes it's fun to find out your brain is falible and tries it's best to fill in th blanks with false information but after looking into this topic I don't buy it.
The only one that had me a little stumped was the forest gump quote " life is like a box of chocolates "
When it's actually " life was like a box of chocolates " oh and R2D2 and his silver leg In Star Wars.

Those 2 did/do have me scratching my head. As for the bearstien bears,well I'm from the UK so we never had them so I cant comment on that one. Was a fun thing to see in motion though this whole " Mandela " stuff.

I wish I could have kept my old Berenstain Bears books from when I was little. I do remember it having an "e" not an "a".

Either way, there must be someone out there who still has their old copies in storage and easily put that theory to rest. Unless somehow those printed words changed as well....

a reply to: stealthyaroura

And therein lies the quandary.

See, I remember R2D2 as the little tin can with 3 legs, that went beep beep all the time.

C3PO, as I remember, was the walking talking sliver leg dude.

Must be that damn Mandela Fella.

a reply to: gort51
well maybe c3p0 was referring to the 3 legs on the little android?
and r2d2 maybe 2 arms 2 legs?

I dunno but i don’t recall the walking gold android ever having a silver leg!??
Then i'm no Star Wars expert by any means.

SO

a reply to: blackmetalmist

The thought of everything changing but some of these things left the same actually messes with my head a good bit. If we step onto an alternate timeline, then we would exist within that timeline. If the books are still the same as they used to be but the writer's name changed without him knowing, then anything can happen at any time. It would mean we could possibly step into a reality where we know longer exist, or we have purple tentacles hanging from our eyesockets, or any conceivable possibility. What is even more concerning is taking into account that maybe only certain things are being changed by individuals, examples being shadow agency full of reality hackers, butterfly effect, divine beings, sorcery, etc.

a reply to: stealthyaroura
C3PO was the gold robot with a silver right leg. R2D2 was the rolling white and blue trashcan that beeped a lot. I never noticed the C3PO thing before, but I had not seen Star Wars in 20 years and was never a fan. I can tell you that if I watch Star Trek and red shirts start surviving, then all bets are off.

a reply to: ventian
thanks for clearing that up, yeah was never a star wars fan so paid little attention to this.
IF this Mandela effect we're real why just mess with such trivial things?

What a waste of power, if this effect is being created by TPTB
it just does not make sense.

a reply to: ventian

Interesting idea you have there. I sometimes wonder if we wake up to different timelines. There are some days where things just feel a bit off. I noticed that the other day driving home. There is this stop that I always pass through but on this day, it just looked different. I pass by there every day but the shape and the layout of this corner is now just different. I know that they couldn't have re-build the entire thing in a day (during the day) so either construction has taken place OR I've somehow woke up on a different, yet constant timeline.