Parallel universes or parallel misconceptions?

The idea of parallel universes is in no way a new one; the thought of having multiple timelines, where one small change can create a massive snowball effect that possibly results in a completely different world, is fascinating to some. Recently, a new theory about the possibility of parallel universes has begun to gain some popularity: the Mandela Effect.

The Mandela Effect was first put into words by online blogger Fiona Broome, in 2010. She developed her theory when she discovered that multiple people had a similar false memory to hers: that Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa, was killed during his imprisonment in the 1980s. This is, of course, not true; Mandela died in 2013. But Broome says she thought she remembered it clearly, complete with news clips of his funeral, mourners in South Africa, riots in some cities, and even a heartfelt speech from his widow. She therefore proposed that all the people who shared those false memories were slipping in and out of different parallel realities.

Since Broome’s proposal of the idea, other people have discovered similar false memories between themselves, using them as proof of the Mandela Effect. In 2012, a blogger named Reese said that he remembered the spelling of the popular children’s book series, The Berenstain Bears, as being The Berenstein Bears, and even found proof in the form of his old childhood books, with the title written as The Berenstein Bears, just as he remembers. In August 2016, a Redditor submitted further “proof” to the public, by posting a picture of a Berenstain Bears VHS tape, spelled The Berenstein Bears. Another Reddit user added that the picture does not look photoshopped, so it must be true.

But what’s to say that that one picture has not been tampered with in any way? The picture could have easily been photoshopped, or a fake label could have been added to the VHS tape. There is also no proof of the books that were spelled Berenstain, and even if such books exist, a very determined believer in the Mandela Effect could have easily faked that as well (there are all different kinds of psychos).

Really, the thought that people have false memories can easily be explained by the fact that many people are collectively misremembering small details -- and the difference in spelling with an e or an a is definitely easy to overlook.

For example, people generally quote the famous line from Star Wars as “Luke, I am your father”. In reality, the line is “No, I am your father”. But people tend to add the name, Luke, because that just sounds better when the line is taken out of context; without the name, the reference is much harder to catch. And so generally, the Star Wars quote is said to be “Luke, I am your father”. And yet, no one hears the actual line in the movie, asks their friends what they thought the line was, finds out they also remembered incorrectly, and immediately says “We must be slipping in between parallel realities!” There’s a much simpler explanation: the line is usually remembered incorrectly.

This also accounts for things like the Berenstain Bears situation. It is more natural to think the title is spelled Berenstein -- after all, words like genistein and cysteine are spelled with an “ein”. The vast majority of people probably didn’t pay much attention to how the bears’ names were spelled when they were children, and when the time came to spell it out, they filled in the hazy memory with what they thought made more sense -- an “ein”.

As for remembering people dying, that is most likely a simple combination of overachieving trolls on social media (or overachieving gossip-trolls) and an overly active imagination. In any case, don’t people like celebrities “die” before they actually pass away? Don’t people sometimes believe the rumors and make unnecessary tribute videos on YouTube? There is really nothing to prove that parallel universes exist.

Science states that findings must be refutable; that is, if a conclusion is not supported by evidence, then the idea must be rejected or modified. The Mandela Effect has little evidence, other than the fact that a group of humans, whose basic minds all work in much the same way, all have the same false memories. But that is easily explained, and besides, are we really going to trust bloggers and Reddit users for information on such a topic? I think not. I am a person of logic, and I personally do not make a habit of believing every unsupported theory that comes my way. As reasonable human beings, we all know better.