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Con-spiracies // #1: Mandela Effects

Most internet users have recently been troubled by the question, “do you remember it being Berenstein or Berenstain Bears?” Majority of people who grew up with those stories remember it as being Berenstein Bears, even though it has always been Berenstain. This predicament has recently been given a name – the Mandela effect.

The name was made popular by Fiona Broome, who claimed to remember Nelson Mandela dying in prison in the 1980s, even though he didn’t die until 2013. She found other people who remembered similar details, some even going as far as “remembering” news coverage of the funeral and riots in Africa. Broome started a website discussing the Mandela effect and had many responses from other internet users who listed other “memories” that may be considered Mandela effects. These include:

Sex IN the City or Sex AND the City?

Mirror, mirror or magic mirror?

Looney Tunes or Looney Toons?

“Luke, I am your father” or “No, I am your father”?

There are a few theories that have arisen with the popularity of this topic. The first, and probably the most discussed, is that these confusions stem from the multiverse theory. It is believed that people “slip” between different universes, where perhaps Nelson Mandela did die in prison, and then end up in a universe where he didn’t. Although scientists believe in the possibility of the existence of multiverses, in relation to the Mandela effect it doesn’t really make sense. If multiverses were real and we were able to slip between them, how do multiple people slip between the same universes to remember the same details? And why would something as insignificant as a letter in the name of a children’s book be changed?

Another theory is that we live in a simulation similar to the “Holodeck” in StarTrek. The Holodeck is an entertainment device that is similar to virtual reality devices. This theory claims that due to glitches in the software, we may misremember details, and that’s why multiple people remember certain things being different. Obviously, this theory is outrageous, but some people believe it to be valid.

There are countless other theories that have been thrown around relating to why these inconsistencies in memory occur. These include time travellers changing things in the past that result in tiny detail changes today, changes occurring due to Satan or black magic, and theories similar to that of the Matrix.

Although many people have been given logical explanations to these memory inconsistencies, those who believe in these bizarre theories often refuse to acknowledge them. This may be because people have a need to believe that something bigger than us exists out there that is mysterious and more exciting than life actually is. There’s nothing wrong with believing in multiverses or time travelling, but it implies that our brains work perfectly 100% of the time. In reality, memory is actually more complicated than it seems.

Memory is constructive, not reproductive, meaning that rather than playing back like a recording, memories are built from various pieces of information. Therefore, our memories may be influenced by other factors that happened during the time of the memory that distract us from the focus, our current knowledge of situations that have changed since the event, or outside influence (such as someone telling us that an event occurred a certain way). Many logical theories about the Mandela effect revolve around false memories (in which we create memories either unconsciously or subconsciously), to which there are many different factors.  

Misinformation effect involves having your memory influenced by another person if you don’t have any solid memories or connections with the topic. For example, you may not have actually read the Berenstain Bears before, but your best friend as a kid loved them, so when someone claims they remember it as Berenstein Bears books you truly believe you do too. This is an example of how memories are constructive – you have bits and pieces of information in your memory but you don’t entirely remember the story so you have to fabricate some of it. The act of fabricating memories is known as confabulation.

Confirmation bias comes into play when people search for or remember information a particular way so that the memory coincides with their beliefs. This means that people who read about Mandela effects will be more likely to have their memories influenced by other people’s memories.

Another common memory fault is that of Cryptomnesia, which is when a person confuses imagination with a memory. This may occur when someone experiences a vivid dream and years later they recall it being an actual memory. For example, Fiona Broome may have had a dream that Nelson Mandela died in prison, and when she started talking about it, other people may have experienced a misinformation effect, resulting in a fabrication of Nelson Mandela’s death.

Jim Coan, a US professor of psychology, explains how Cryptomnesia exists using the “lost in the mall” procedure. Coan gave his family descriptions of memories from his childhood, one of which was fabricated. He told them that he remembered his brother getting lost in the mall when they were younger, which his brother actually claimed to remember. He even went as far as to make up details about the event in particular, even though it never actually happened. This describes Cryptomnesia, as well as the misinformation effect.

As mentioned before, the reason people believe in the Mandela effect is because they feel the need to believe that something exists out there bigger than themselves. This is referred to as a social reinforcement of beliefs. It involves feeling the need to have control over our lives and the world we live in as well as the desire to believe that we’re a part of something bigger. While believing in the Holodeck theory doesn’t hold much in terms of logic, it’s fun and interesting to believe in because it implies that there is a fascinating explanation behind simple memory failures.

Mandela effects are fun to discuss, especially when someone remembers something different to you, but there’s a very likely chance that it can all be pinned down to false memories. Multiverses and time travelling is a fun idea, but extremely unlikely, and even if these things existed, they don’t make much sense in terms of the Mandela effect. Below are a few theories for the reasons why we misremember certain things collectively.

Berenstein vs Berenstain: looking at the books, it’s easy to see why children may get the words confused. The title is written in almost cursive writing, and if you weren’t paying much attention to it, you could confuse the a with an e. Also, names ending with “stein” are far more common than those ending in “stain”, so the brain is bound to confuse the two due to assumption.

Mirror, mirror vs magic mirror: contrary to what most people believe, both of these sayings are actually correct. In Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the evil queen says “Mirror, mirror, on the wall.” However, the original story as told in the Grimm Brothers fairy tale, the evil queen says “Magic mirror on the wall.” Most Disney stories were inspired by fairy tales, obviously tweaking them to make them appropriate for children, and this is another example of how Disney has made the fairy tale their own. Even if Snow White is the only reason you know of the saying, many other things around us, such as toys or media, use the original saying.

Looney Tunes vs Looney Toons: most people remember this famous children’s show as being Looney Toons. This one is easily explained by the fact that the first word is spelled Looney, so it would make sense for the second word to use double o’s as well for similarity. Also, the show is a cartoon, so it would make more sense for it to be Toons. Alas, it is actually Looney Tunes.

Sex in the City vs Sex and the City: another easily explained Mandela effect. Most people use the unofficial “Sex in the City” perfumes as evidence that the word has been changed, when in fact the perfume had to be named something different to the show for copyright reasons. Also, to reference Captain Holt from Brooklyn Nine-Nine, the city is the fifth character in the series, so it has to be sex and the city.

“Luke, I am your father” vs “No, I am your father”: when referencing a movie or TV show, context is everything. For lengthy quotes, it would make sense to directly quote from the movie because someone who has seen it would make the connection. However, for something as short as “No, I am your father”, it doesn’t really make sense and few people would make the connection. Similar to “Houston, we have a problem”. Many people reference this and understand where the reference is from, but it wouldn’t hold the same context if it was just “We have a problem”. Therefore, more people relate to the quote if a name is mentioned in the quote.

References: 

http://theconversation.com/the-mandela-effect-and-how-your-mind-is-playing-tricks-on-you-89544

https://www.snopes.com/news/2016/07/24/the-mandela-effect/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/articles/200105/the-seven-sins-memory

http://www.debunkingmandelaeffects.com/common-explanations/

http://www.debunkingmandelaeffects.com/mirror-mirror-on-the-wall/

https://www.skeptic.com/insight/the-mandela-effect/

https://www.express.co.uk/news/science/814701/multiverse-proof-evidence-parallel-universe (photo)

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Paranormal or Perfectly Normal? // #1: Sleep Paralysis

For Mind Sage’s first post, it seemed fitting to discuss something that four out of every ten people will experience at least once in their lifetime – sleep paralysis. If you don’t know what sleep paralysis is, consider yourself very lucky. Paralysis in itself is a terrifying thing to experience, but some people have also reported experiencing something more sinister during the phenomena.

When we sleep, various neurotransmitters in the brain work together to paralyse the body so we don’t act out on our dreams during the REM cycle. We are unable to move or speak during this time. Unfortunately, sometimes our brains essentially awaken before our body does in the sense that we are able to perceive things that are happening around us, but we aren’t able to move or call out. This can occur either as we’re falling asleep (known as hypnagogic) or when we’re waking up (hypnopompic). What makes this experience appear straight out of a nightmare is that people often experience a feeling of choking or floating, pressure on their chest, sensing a presence in the room or hearing noises.

Stories of sleep paralysis have been circulating through cultures for centuries and has actually inspired many stories that are still told today. These stories stem from what people report seeing during this period of sleep paralysis – shadows, demons, ghosts, animals, witches or aliens. For many centuries, many people have reported seeing a certain type of presence during a bout of sleep paralysis. This has been labelled “old hag syndrome”.

Old hag syndrome is a folklore myth that is centred around the idea that the sleeper awakens and sees an old hag sitting on their chest, causing breathing difficulty and ridding them immobile. The premise behind this seems to be a common factor in most cultures, the only difference being the appearance of the “old hag”. For example, many Europeans have reported seeing a female horse and feeling her riding upon their chest (fun fact, “night mare” actually originates from this). In St. Lucia, people experience an “attack of kokma”, which is when the souls of dead children crawl across the sleeper’s chest and attempt to choke them. A disembodied witch has been spotted by populations in the US, a vengeful ghost in Fiji, a Jinn in Turkey, a silent shadow in Vietnam, and a mouse that steals your breath in China.

In medieval times, people reported being sexually assaulted by a succubus or an incubus while being unable to move. Myths circulated that females would be impregnated with something sinister during this act and would die as a result, and the males would just die after the act. Interestingly, these myths can actually be closely compared to stories shared in modern day society of alien abduction.

All over the world, particularly in the US, people have reported seeing bright lights in the sky, being abducted into a foreign object, and being poked, probed and in some cases sexually assaulted by grey-ish looking creatures. A psychologist named Christopher French has taken an interest in this subject and has studied the connection between reported alien abductions and sleep paralysis. He believes that all alien abductions can actually be explained by simply experiencing sleep paralysis.

It appears that there is a correlation between what people report experiencing during sleep paralysis and what their culture considers important or scary. For example, the reason stories of alien abduction are so popular in the US is because of the abundance of movies or TV shows featuring science fiction topics. This is supported by the relation between what people report seeing and the common cinematic portrayal of aliens. In cultures where family ties are important, people often see the vengeful spirit of a deceased relative. In centuries past where witches were a fear of most of the population, people would see a laughing witch or hag sitting upon their chest. This could explain why some people see or experience similar things during sleep paralysis despite having no direct contact with each other.

The psychologist mentioned before, French, also studied the link between a person’s interpretation of sleep paralysis and their level of belief in the supernatural. Obviously in cultures where myths and folklore are common, someone is going to report seeing a manifestation of the creature in those stories. This may explain why some people don’t see anything at all during sleep paralysis. The experience of waking up and being unable to move or speak is horrifying in itself and your anxiety levels are going to be naturally raised. Combine that with being stuck between awake and asleep, and hallucinations are bound to occur.

If these explanations still haven’t eased your mind, Jorge Conesa Sevilla published a book titled “Wrestling with Ghosts: A Personal and Scientific Account of Sleep Paralysis”, which discusses stories told throughout generations of sleep paralysis. It also discusses techniques that one can use to diffuse tension and anxiety when experiencing sleep paralysis to help reduce the chances of hallucination.

I personally have experienced sleep paralysis a couple of times, but I haven’t actually seen anything. It may be because being paralysed is one of my biggest fears, so all of my anxiety is directed towards that and I wouldn’t actually be paying attention to anything else happening around me. I enjoy hearing other people’s stories though so if you have any I’d love to read them. Also let me know what you think of my first post and if you’d like to read about anything in particular please message me suggestions!

References:

https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/sleep-paralysis#1

https://sleepjunkies.com/sleep-disorders/sleep-paralysis-demons-nightmares/

http://www.the13thfloor.tv/tag/sleep-paralysis/

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/05/sleep-paralysis/484490/

http://scienceoholic.com/sleep-paralysis/ (photo)