Mandela Effect Experiencers: How's Your Memory?

After I learned that I had experienced dozens of Mandela Effects, I was concerned that my memory may have been shot. After all, according to most of the "debunkers" concerning the Mandela Effect, Mandela Effect experiencers had a very bad/impaired memory.

I want to know if that theory is aligning with reality for anyone. The only Mandela Effect experiencer that I spoke to in person about the issue agreed with me concerning the following point:

If our memory was as bad/impaired as most "debunkers" claimed, we would have lost the ability to function in society.

At the very least I was convinced that Mandela Effect experiencers would notice a huge change in their day to day lives due to their newly found "memory impairment" (if the "debunkers" were correct).

I was especially concerned about it because my current job requires me to have a good memory. Thankfully, I haven't noticed any memory impairment before or since experiencing dozens of Mandela Effects. I want to know if that's a common experience among Mandela Effect experiencers. My impression is that it is.

One curious thing that I noticed about the Mandela Effect "debunkers" was that while almost all of them wanted to chalk the phenomenon up to "bad/impaired memory", I couldn't find one who actually wanted to scientifically test the memories of Mandela Effect experiencers. I think that says it all concerning how serious they were.

And...I can see the "bad memory" versus "memory impairment" arguments coming. If I had a memory impairment serious enough to cause me to experience dozens of Mandela Effects, it would be causing me problems in my day to day life by now. I noticed my first Mandela Effect years ago (Berenstein/Berenstain Bears)...but I only noticed more last May. There's been enough time for me to see how my memory is.

Also, if a mental disease caused my Mandela Effects, it would be causing me problems in my day to day life. It's not.

We need scientific testing on this issue.

Armchair "debunkers" are worthless when it comes to the Mandela Effect.

Well.....Im not sure....but I could have sworn Katt Williams drama all happened like last year. And my memory is sharp. But it all happened 4 years ago and I know that isnt right

Its very upsetting

a reply to: Profusion

Put a group of people in a room who all experienced something together and the memories of that experience will differ , it isn't that their memory is shot it's just that memory isn't a precise snapshot of the past.

Mandela Effect is a Meme , it's an invention that when you think about it makes no sense.

We need scientific testing on this issue.

How do you propose that is done ?

a reply to: Profusion

Go ahead. Just ignore all the studies proving the unreliability of human memory and eyewitness accounts. Insert some self medicating, drug, and alcohol abuse. Then top it off with the hundred flavors of media designed to invoke subconscious and emotional responses. Then sprinkle in works of parody?

Then the best part. Using your interpretation of pop culture's works of fantasy to define reality?

Just keep thinking it's the universe's fault, not the fallible human mind.

ME is up there with flat earth theory and all moon landings were faked.

Ever think people push a hoax just to see who jumps on the wagon?

originally posted by: gortex
a reply to: Profusion

Put a group of people in a room who all experienced something together and the memories of that experience will differ , it isn't that their memory is shot it's just that memory isn't a precise snapshot of the past.

Mandela Effect is a Meme , it's an invention that when you think about it makes no sense.

We need scientific testing on this issue.

How do you propose that is done ?

If you're claiming the "Mandela Effect is a meme", then how would does it work? Are those of who believe we've experienced Mandela Effects being tricked or programmed into believing that we're experiencing something that we're actually not? How would that work?

Let's consider the definition of the Mandela Effect that I go by:

"The phenomenon where it is discovered that a global, well known fact has apparently changed for A LARGE GROUP OF PEOPLE."

According to that definition, each Mandela Effect that can be identified is a separate phenomenon. That means that each Mandela Effect according to your theory is a different meme. I've explored the meme theory for the Mandela Effect in detail before, and I found it to be a dead end. It requires too many assumptions to be taken seriously in my opinion.

As for scientific testing, I propose checking to see if Mandela Effect experiencers have a bad/impaired memory or not. Your meme theory may be testable too. I would have to think about how that could be tested. I think we would have to determine exactly how the meme theory would work first before we could scientifically test to see if it's happening or not. Can you explain how the meme theory works?

a reply to: neutronflux

I'm trying to take that type of reasoning seriously. That's the point of this thread. When I first noticed the Berenstein/Berenstain Bears Mandela Effect, I thought it was nothing due to similar factors as what you wrote. After I suddenly noticed dozens of more Mandela Effects, I had to face reality...

If my memory was as bad/impaired as most "debunkers" claimed, I would have lost the ability to function in society.

There could be other factors than just memory such as what you alluded to. However, if those things were factors concerning the Mandela Effects I've experienced, they would be affecting my life in ways that aren't related to Mandela Effects. Again, I have noticed no such things.

From Snopes:
Human memory is a peculiar thing, at once astonishing in its scope and power and dismaying in its fallibility. There's much we don't know about how memory works, but suffice it to say it isn't perfect. Particularly vexing is the phenomenon of false memories, erroneous or unconsciously fabricated recollections of past events that feel so real and true that people who experience them refuse to accept evidence to the contrary.

Psychologists call the phenomenon confabulation. The term is used clinically to refer to memory defects experienced by patients with brain damage, and also to describe everyday phenomena like embellishing the truth when recounting events and inventing facts on the fly to fill in gaps in memory. We've all done these things at one time or another, though we're rarely conscious of it when we do.

Just sayin ......

How can you possibly test this supposed effect, scientifically?

Any actual evidence that's provided is poo-poo'd by them's who claim to experience this effect.

Example - right here on ATS less than a week ago I was reading a thread, it was about Cadubry's chocolate. Someone, apparently - reckons that the missing 's' is somehow evidence of a Mandela effect...and when someone posted a link to a wiki page the response was - yeah, changes are being made to the Wiki page, so it's not reliable.

Essentially, there is no reliable evidence, because if and when any is found, the get out claise is - aaah, yes, that information has changed due to ME.

It's absurd, the whole thing is absurd.

In all honesty, and on some actual reflection over a period of time I'#ve reached the conclusion that the Mandela effect is not only stupid, but damaging.

Let's give it the benefit of the doubt, let's say we concede and decide that this is real...where and when will the goalposts be laid down in their final resting position? Never!

How far does it go? Can I claim in court that evidence that proves I'm guilty has been altered by the effect? It's stupid...but also quite dangerous.

Much like promoting other mental health issues and make-believe....you know, dudes pretending they're girls, etc.

We're on a rocky road to something pretty vile if you ask me but ain't nothing I can do...just along for the ride and enjoying the show...and what a spectacle - what a comedy it is!

originally posted by: samerulesapply
How can you possibly test this supposed effect, scientifically?

“Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”

In my opinion, you have to test each possible explanation. As you rule each possible explanation out one by one, you get closer to the truth. I'm trying to do that in an unscientific way with this thread. For instance, I think I have a decent memory. The first reply in this thread was made by a Mandela Effect experiencer who claims to have a "sharp" memory. If we could determine that a group of Mandela Effect experiencers actually have good memories then the "bad/impaired memory" theory just became a lot less likely. With enough testing I believe we could almost rule it out completely.

By using that methodology, I believe we could get a lot closer to the truth.

originally posted by: samerulesapply
In all honesty, and on some actual reflection over a period of time I'#ve reached the conclusion that the Mandela effect is not only stupid, but damaging.

The experiences of those of us who had our lives rocked by the Mandela Effect appears to mean nothing to you. Apparently you believe we should just keep quiet because our testimonies could be dangerous?

I believe Mandela Effect experiencers should be put in the same boat as people who claim to be UFO abductees. We have a strange stories to tell that usually cannot be proved or disproved. That's why I've given up on trying to convince anyone that I'm right. I have a lot more empathy for supposed UFO abductees now as well.

Far as physics, it takes energy and a mechanism to change timelines/dimensions/reality.

Sorry to use movie references, but there should be sides effects as in the terminator or back to the future.

No external energy supply or side effects, its all in your head.

a reply to: Profusion

I get your point, sure...still. I don't have a great memory.

But I remember watching Forrest Gump at a tender age and knowing the difference between the movie's tag line, and Forrest 'quoting' his mother.

I understand why a company like Cadbury would brand it's chocolate as ''Cadbury's' because it's one of their products. They produce it, it belong to them. I always saw 'No, I am your father' because I had that very conversation with a friend many years ago...this was a talking point when my friends and I were like 12 or 13 or thereabouts...some 15 years ago.

There's nothing to get to the bottom of, that's the point.

I don't ave a perfect memory, I remember the things that are important to me and tend to remember none of, or some of the things that are not so important..and like most folks I fill in the blanks, sub-consciously. The world isn't to blame for my shortcomings or imperfections. Nor is it the cause of some outlandish phenomenon...it's because I'm flawed.

The Mandela effect isn't real. Creating an opinion to justify it is not science. Quoting other scientific theories to define the Mandela Effect doesn't define it either.

You are kicking a dead horse.

UFO abductees and Mandela Effect experiencers are not the same group of people. Two different experiences with entirely different issues.

What earth shattering, mind blowing and life changing events are you chalking up to the Mandela Effect? (I am specifically asking about the ones you have had you life "rocked" by)

1.) Star Wars Quotes?
2.) The different bear name?
3.) Internal Organs and skeletal system misplacement?
4.) Mandela didn't die in prison?
5.).....etc.?

originally posted by: samerulesapply
There's nothing to get to the bottom of, that's the point.

Please see my next reply directly below.

a reply to: neutronflux

There is a multiverse theory that's been proposed by a famous theoretical quantum physicist that does seem to make the timeline/reality shifting explanation for the Mandela Effect seem like a possibility. If we get to the point where the theory referenced below or something like it seems like a likely explanation for reality, I believe the Mandela Effect could become a part of the study of the theory.

So, the question that’s actually on everyone’s mind: If parallel universes are not so parallel after all, will we macroscopic beings one day be able to interact with the other universes in our neighborhood?

“It’s not a part of our theory,” said Wiseman. “But, if a force does exist between parallel worlds, you can start to wonder, what if that force is not exactly how we’ve written it down. The idea of interactions with other universes is no longer pure fantasy.”

It opens up doors, so to speak.

LINK

originally posted by: wdkirk
What earth shattering, mind blowing and life changing events are you chalking up to the Mandela Effect?

The biggest issues were having various positions and/or sizes of countries and continents apparently change. Seeing countries "appear" that apparently to me weren't there before. Seeing huge "changes" in human anatomy that I would have known about. Having animals that I never heard of "appear." I remember South America being where the man in the following video remembers it being. I was equally as shocked as he was when I discovered its "new" position.


www.youtube.com...

a reply to: wdkirk

Exactly...the afore-mentioned Cadbury/s debacle is an excellent case in point. Someone is all like...oh, it used to be Cadbury's but now it's Cadbury! How weird is that...except, it still says Cadbury's on some products...ins't that strange?

What..that nothing has changed, at all? Not really, no.

But then someone came back and they're like - look, I found some stuff...apparently Cadbury used to be called Cadbury's but changed their branding in the early 90's - and the responses?

Yeah, that's a Wiki page! We all know that Wiki is being affected by the ME therefore it's not evidence of anything.

This is what you're up against.

If I say now that when we were at school, and my friend who collected Star Wars comics, figures and meorabilia corrected another friend who made the mis-quote "Luke, I am your father' then the response is...yeah, ME hasn't affected you, you're one of the ones yet to experience this!

You cannot win, if there was 100% bona-fide proof...I mean, even if God came down from the heavens and told us all, there is no Mandela effect, there never was! The ME claimants would be like - God has been affected by the Mandela effect!

It's beyond insane and stupid.

originally posted by: samerulesapply
a reply to: wdkirk

Exactly...the afore-mentioned Cadbury/s debacle is an excellent case in point. Someone is all like...oh, it used to be Cadbury's but now it's Cadbury! How weird is that...except, it still says Cadbury's on some products...ins't that strange?

What..that nothing has changed, at all? Not really, no.

This is why you have to stay on track if you're going to debate this issue with people. What I mean by that is people are using different definitions of the Mandela Effect. That can make everything incredibly confusing. The following is the definition I'm using:

"The phenomenon where it is discovered that a global, well known fact has apparently changed for A LARGE GROUP OF PEOPLE."

I go by that definition because I feel it's the primary definition that was originally intended to describe the phenomenon.

The following definition is similar (and it appears to be the mainstream definition now):

"The Mandela Effect is a term for where a group of people all mis-remember the same detail, event or physicality."

If a group of people didn't experience the supposed "Mandela Effect" in question, then it's not a Mandela Effect according to both definitions above. What we're seeing unfortunately is people mis-remembering something and labeling it a "Mandela Effect" without even checking if anyone else has the same "changed" memory that they do. I think that's as silly as you do.

If you want to really research the Mandela Effect, I would stick with researching and discussing the major Mandela Effects that a huge group of people agree on such as:

The number of people in JFK's car when he was assassinated "changing" from four to six

The position of South America moving about a thousand miles east

"Changes" in the human anatomy such as the position of the heart

Those are very significant issues where thousands of people (based on my research) seem to have experienced exactly the same Mandela Effect.

a reply to: Profusion

Lol...to ber honest I haven't heard of any of those except for the JFK one. I dunno enough about it, wasn't alive at the time so any input from me is without basis

If all I have to go on is the word of others...think I'll give it a miss, it ain't gonna end well.

Cheers.

a reply to: Profusion

We need scientific testing on this issue.

Armchair "debunkers" are worthless when it comes to the Mandela Effect.

I'll take an 'armchair debunk' stab at this one.

All claims of this effect come from Media, not the real world.

As other posters have pointed out, the human mind is very unreliable when it comes to factual memories. Honestly, all it took was an intro to psychology class for me to understand that. I wear green colored glasses, maybe you wear blue- we can see the same thing, but I remember everything a little differently than you.

As I have stated before, I have memories of events that I know I did not experience. It's really not hard to do- I've heard a story told so many times, I made a mental movie to go with it. But I wasn't there, so I know it's not real.

Now, I've had at least one "Mandela" moment, but I put no stock in it whatsoever.

I have posted a personal experience before and it was not well received but, here I go again.

I was a ME believer with regards to the book series. About a year or so ago, I cleaned out a padlocked storage bin and discovered one of my childhood bear books. The authors' names were clearly Berenstain. I was quite surprised and had to conclude that my memory had been faulty all of those years or that I had allowed myself to be influenced, perhaps, by the masses of folks (friends and loved ones included) who believed their names to be Berenstein.

There have been other incidents through time, some of which have been mentioned above, that left me perplexed as the way they were being described now was not the way I had remembered them. However, my first inclination is to question my memory as I had proven my memory to be faulty or at least I discovered I may be easily susceptible to suggestions. That surprised me quite a bit.

I suppose, admittedly, I am not very knowledgeable in the details of how the ME works specifically but, in my layman's terms my question would be...

If I did experience a different 'parallel universe' for some time and then suddenly cast into this one, why would that have happened and what is the point for the movement between the two?

Do folks who experience ME on a greater scale pass back and forth between their two realities without realizing it? Is their movement quite fluid?

If the ME (regarding the book series) is in fact true then how could a solid mass object be changed. It is, after all, a tangible object and not abstract?

The book, which I keep on a shelf, is an anchor for me. Not an anchor to bog me down or impede my progress in anyway but, more an anchor to remind me just how susceptible and easily swayed some human minds can be (I was one of those folks), in my respectful opinion. Me finding my childhood book was proof, for me, and no other scientific test is required, again, for me.

To clarify, this is MY experience and I do not mean to imply that it fits for everyone who is experiencing the ME.

a reply to: TNMockingbird

I'm going to do a thread soon going through what I believe is the true nature of "reality" & what I think is the big conspiracy of the world.
This "reality" isn't real, it's a construct for our consciousness to experience the dualistic nature of this 3D universe.

All realities exist all at once, it's our consciousness and awareness that dictates which reality we experience. Each reality has a minor change but as we expand our consciousness we start to drift further away from the "reality" we were vibrating at for most of our lives, it's then that we start to notice bigger changes in our reality. This is the Mandela effect.

People who haven't yet accepted this is our reality,will stay vibrating at the same rate and so the changes in their reality are minor and not so noticeable.

Bill Hicks understood it.



The Law of Attraction is based around the same philosophy, we set intention towards the reality we want to be in.