The "Mandela Effect:" A Falsifiable Theory

a reply to: DJW001

Bravo! Excellent OP!
I think people forget that memory is not a precise record of our past and that memories can be ammended by external factors. I have said on the other thread that mispellings in magazines and newspapers made people learn the wrong spellings of brand names, and those mispelled names were the ones that got ingrained in people's memories. Most topics in the Mandela effect list have easy explanations, all caused by inattentiveness, mis-perceptions, confirmation bias and poor education, just like you said.

I was discussing this with someone and we were wondering if the people affected are not perhaps influenced by early dementia, as some have mistaken memories and confusion for many years (even decades) before a diagnosis is made. After all the percentage of people with dementia is increasing and many sufferers now are in their 40s.

originally posted by: DJW001

originally posted by: DeviantMortal
Very well put together post S&F for you. I believe as your post suggests, the Mandela effect is not real.

Thank you. The "effect" is very real, it's just not what the "experiencers" like to think it is. It is essentially the opposite of deja vue. In deja vue, something new seems to appear familiar, in the "Mandela Effect," something familiar appears to be new.

Aren't you making a conclusion here before finding the result of the falsifiable hypothesis you've put forward? Not to niggle your position. Just that it seems like a leap forward to say "I figured it out" and "If these things happen it shows Im right" to "Im right because I showed I can be right."

Or am I misreading it?

By the nature of this weird theory itself, I find it a little arrogant to claim an absolute from which ever the side. Claiming it's all just false memories is just too damn easy as even someone with an IQ of 80 would come to the same conclusion with the same instances of so-called proof.

I have myself woken up some mornings to find out something as changed, something that was true last time I checked it and I'm a guy that's pretty thorough. Long before any ideas of the Mandela Effect, long before I even knew the name Mandela, I said out loud something close to : "Damn, I must of woken up in another universe because this just wasn't the truth last time I checked it."

How could someone even prove this alternate universe idea? There is just no 100% sure way as one would need to defy what we know of existence itself.

I have faith that the Mandela Effect is real as I have experienced it and I don't really care if others don't believe me and all of us. It's not the simple shallow idea of bad memories that's going to change any of that and I think it's the same for everyone like me.

a reply to: theMediator

My theory is falsifiable. That, at least, makes it scientific.

originally posted by: boncho

originally posted by: DJW001

originally posted by: DeviantMortal
Very well put together post S&F for you. I believe as your post suggests, the Mandela effect is not real.

Thank you. The "effect" is very real, it's just not what the "experiencers" like to think it is. It is essentially the opposite of deja vue. In deja vue, something new seems to appear familiar, in the "Mandela Effect," something familiar appears to be new.

Aren't you making a conclusion here before finding the result of the falsifiable hypothesis you've put forward? Not to niggle your position. Just that it seems like a leap forward to say "I figured it out" and "If these things happen it shows Im right" to "Im right because I showed I can be right."

Or am I misreading it?

Modesty forbids my posting links, but just Google "Mandela Effect" and:

Panama Canal
Muhammad Ali
Etc...

S+F. I remember reading a similar explanation a few months ago. If I remember correctly, they referred to it as subconscious anachronism.

a reply to: boncho

If I simply told you that I had predicted something, as though this were the Prophesies Forum, you would have no way of verifying whether it was a "hit." On the other hand the Scientific Method requires the work to be repeatable by peers, and ideally, involve a double blind of some kind. Using the OP as a guideline, you can create a "Mandela Effect" generator, that uses certain common errors to predict "Mandela Effect" experiences.

Spelling errors: Names with ei and ie in them are easily confused. What is the name of the actor who won an Oscar for portraying a pawn broker? What is the name of the writer who published books about the paranormal in the 60s and 70s? Which one was Rod? Which one was Brad? How does the author of "Communion" spell his last name? What is his first name? What is its connection to the cotton gin?

Then there's Jon/John, Jo/Joe, Erika/Erica, etc, etc, etc.

Of course, Central and Eastern European names are a fountain of Mandela Effects: -vich, -vitch, -vych, -vic? -wicz, -vitz? Ts- Cz- Cs-?

Then there is transliteration: When did Mao Tse Tung become Mao Zedong? When did Tai Chi Chuan turn into taijiquan? And what happened to PEKING!? It just disappeared off the face of the Earth! Which brings us to:

Hazy Geography. Does Russia have a border with Iran? With Japan? With the United States? Which is closer to the Mediterranean (and how is that spelled, BTW?) the Black Sea or the Caspian? Which side of the Caspian is Azerbaijan on? I'll bet there are MEs for all of these. Also for:

Other nations' history. How many French Republics? Who was the last Louis? Was Mary Antoinette his wife or his mistress? Then who was Madame de Pompadour?

You can invent your own garbled names, geography, and history along these lines and see if there are people experiencing "Mandela Effects" from them. Also, any celebrity over 65 is probably "ambiguously dead."

As far as Darth Vader goes, the line WAS Luke, I am your father. I remember it that way and even Darth Vader himself, James Earl Jones remembers it that way.

at 4:30 he says so himself and also later on in the clip

a reply to: DJW001

Posted on June 16th:

At some point, someone will claim that the Panama Canal has "changed." Instead of going East to West, connecting the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean, it now runs North-South. It has always run North-South, due to local geography, although our habit of thinking of the Atlantic being in the east and the Pacific in the west makes us assume that the canal runs that way.

Posted August 8th.

Another prediction: someone will claim that Japanese Americans were interred in Alcatraz during the Second World War. In fact, they were interred on Angel Island, another island in San Francisco Bay.

Still waiting on this one.

a reply to: DJW001

I first discovered this topic 2 days ago by chance when I noticed a video title on YouTube about C-3PO's silver leg in the original Star Wars trilogy - without even clicking on the video I was already extremely confused. After it explained that 3-PO's lower right leg was now silver I went to the shelf and pulled out my boxset from 2004 of the original 3 films and threw in A New Hope - and my jaw hit the floor. In the very first scene where you see enough of him that his lower leg is visible I noticed it instantly - it stuck out like a sore thumb. I immediately called an old friend and fellow nerd who I knew was as big a fan of the movies as I was growing up - same reaction, he was dumbfounded. That night I went to my son's apartment (he is 18) and he and his roommate along with another friend were there. Same reaction from them. Since then I have been looking at more proposed examples of the effect. Now having just broached the age 50 I am well aware of the effects of hazy memory. And the examples of changed spellings, and mispronunciations of words or slight altering of quotes really don't resonate with me very much (although I will admit the Forrest Gump one just sounds wrong). But I would argue that this change to C-3PO is a very different animal. I was 11 when Star Wars came out in 1977, and I was one of the original hardcore fanatics of these movies, especially the first two, the last movie was pretty disappointing but that's another story. I owned all the trading cards, both blue and yellow sets, drew nothing but Star Wars related artwork for the next 2-3 years, knew every note of the soundtracks, and probably saw the first two movies 20 times - and that was in the theater, on the big screen - the first VHS copy didn't come out until 1982, and DVDs and mp4 files would not exist for years/decades. I have a vivid recollection of just about every frame of those first two movies and there is not the slightest doubt in my mind that the movies that exist now are NOT the ones I saw as a kid. This is not a 3 second auditory blip that comes and goes once like a quote. This is continuous visual reinforcement that something is different for every second of every minute that it's on the screen (I am tempted to but have not yet added up the amount of screen time the silver shin gets). There are in particular certain scenes where it glares out at you, like the one in RotJ where 3PO is sitting in his wooden throne being god of the teddy bears and Luke levitates him - his lower legs are hanging off the front of the chair and the sight is unavoidable. I've heard some people suggest that with the mirrored finish the silver can be hard to notice due to reflections of the rest of the gold - true in some cases but to people who suggest this I'd suggest they watch a whole movie and try and claim that - or just watch the scene I mentioned. It was noticeable to me within the first second of the first time 3PO is on the screen (00:02:37 in New Hope if you want to compare notes).

So what does this mean? I don't know and I don't think it's time to speculate or theorize yet, personally I'd like to know who else is having this experience. If I'm the only one, that tells me something. If I'm not, and observation so far seems to suggest I am not, then that is something different. I'd suggest we maybe do a little data collection to get an idea what we are dealing with before closing the case. I think the Star Wars "anomaly" is an interesting test case - these movies, really like no others in a way, have become engrained in the cultural consciousness, they have an obsessive fanbase (myself included), and the effect in question spreads visually thoughout 3 90 minute films. So if you find this whole thing interesting like I do and are willing to contribute some data and a minute of your time, I put together a 5 question survey on C-3PO's silver leg here:

3PO's silver leg poll

to DJW: does the "3PO silver leg" thing resonate with you at all? I am curious to see if there are people who believe 3PO always had a silver leg as adamantly as I believe he did not, and if they experienced the movies in a similar way - I make no preconceived assumptions about how people will remember or respond to this, I can only offer my personal experience with it for comparison and as a data point.

a reply to: NordeastRock

C3PO did get patched up temporarily in one of the films. You may be recalling that single scene.

a reply to: DJW001

lol go watch the movies DJW - if you remember 3PO being gold except for the patch job you refer to, prepare to have your mind blown. As I said it's in the first scene of ANH that you see him in, 2 minutes in. And every subsequent scene. Of every movie. Then go fill out the poll.

a reply to: DJW001
Maybe, just maybe, memes are circulated on-line and reactions are measured from the social medias and forums like this as an experiment? Please, consider this:
The Global Consciousness Project

a reply to: MaxTamesSiva

I have always thought that there is something to this. I've heard of the PEAR lab and the experiments with the random number generators, but haven't seen this site before, looks intriguing. I could see how this might apply in cases where people build up the same (wrong or different) perception of a quote or spelling over time, but for the case of 3PO's silver leg I can't say I've ever heard anyone suggest that he had one before, or ever seen any discussion or debate about it, so it doesn't seem like the concentration of consciousness would be there to manifest it - if I'm following the point you are making correctly, apologies if that is not the case.

a reply to: NordeastRock
I'm reading the GCP's Original Plan, and I have to admit that it's way over my head to comprehend, however, is it possible that what might seem trivial details that occupy the attention of small groups of people could be correlated to the bigger picture of any serious study on consciousness?

I'm still trying to wrap my head around it, they even have Nelson Mandela's Death at ~472.

a reply to: DJW001

Good post. I still have this link bookmarked because I think it's very relevant when it comes to the ME people seem to believe.

Half of people believe fake facts, 'remember' events that never happened

In a study on false memories, Dr Kimberley Wade in the Department of Psychology demonstrates that if we are told about a completely fictitious event from our lives, and repeatedly imagine that event occurring, almost half of us would accept that it did.

30% of participants appeared to 'remember' the event -- they accepted the suggested event, elaborated on how the event occurred, and even described images of what the event was like. Another 23% showed signs that they accepted the suggested event to some degree and believed it really happened.

And this is what I believe is the main culprit for ME. Pop culture, along with social media which is now in every aspect of our lives, helps to push false memories or false facts out which people then 'remember' incorrectly.

This is exactly how the Star Wars 'No I am your father' quote is mis-remembered as Luke, I am your father. Because pop culture and media changed the quote to fit the context it was needed for. People heard it over and over in memorable situations, (adverts, sitcoms, comedic films) which reinforce the incorrect quote.

They then SAY that same quote to their friends or repeat it when asked, as LIAYF and not the correct NIAYF, which is exactly what that article is describing.

originally posted by: NordeastRock
a reply to: DJW001

lol go watch the movies DJW - if you remember 3PO being gold except for the patch job you refer to, prepare to have your mind blown. As I said it's in the first scene of ANH that you see him in, 2 minutes in. And every subsequent scene. Of every movie. Then go fill out the poll.

Better yet, just google C3PO and click on "images." Sometimes he is portrayed with a silver leg, sometimes he is not. In the films, he is often portrayed in close up. Irrespective of what color the leg is in the films, the preponderance of images of him show him completely in gold, and the tendency to assume that the body not seen in the close ups is uniform, would create the assumption that both legs are the same, whether it is in a single scene or in the entire run of the series. Classic false memory.