Conspiracy theory taking over people’s lives

The Mandela Effect

The+Mandela+Effect+got+its+name+because+a+wide+variety+of+people+distinctly+remember+Nelson+Mandela+dying+in+prison%2C+but+later+discovered+that+he+died+after+he+was+released.+Photo+courtesy+from+Creative+Commons+License.+

“The Mandela Effect got its name because a wide variety of people distinctly remember Nelson Mandela dying in prison, but later discovered that he died after he was released.” Photo courtesy from Creative Commons License.

Alyssa Cole, Staff Writer

By Alyssa Cole ’19 | Staff Writer

Lots of conspiracy theories come and go. Some are backed up by a large amount of evidence and examples, and others are just random, illogical ideas that people post on the internet.

Generally, conspiracy theories are believed by a small group of people and are easily forgotten about after a little while. However, a conspiracy theory called the “Mandela Effect” has recently taken social media by storm.

“The Mandela Effect is a layered, complicated and overall confusing topic, but it is also extremely interesting,” Matt Fabry ‘20 said.

This conspiracy theory is based on the beliefs of alternate universes and time travel, which are usually ideas that occur in science fiction movies, but many have been convinced that they could truly exist.

According to the conspiracy, there are examples of small, miniscule things that have been changed or altered ever so slightly. Because of this, there are claims of things possibly being shifted, and becoming different than they were in the past.

For example, the one that started the trending interest in the Mandela Effect is the children’s book series, “The Berenstain Bears”, or as some would say, “The Berenstein Bears.”

Many people have been asked if they remember this picture book, and what they thought the name of it was. Most people strongly believe that the book was called “The Berenstein Bears”, but it turns out the book was never titled this.

Another example is the famous line from “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves”, when the evil queen says “Mirror, mirror on the wall”. However, this was never the line.The real line is “Magic mirror on the wall”, but the large audience of the film always remembered it differently.

The thought of this has caused confusion and agitation among a large group of people because specific information that people say they clearly remember has turned out to be false.

The common question is, why do so many people have memories of something happening that never really existed?

Strange ideas are considered to explain the odd examples of the theory, such as time, travel and alternate universes.

Mandela Effect supporters suppose that one small action in a different period of time can lead to an alteration of something in the present. For example, if someone time traveled back to the year of 1950 and simply sat on the grass, it could affect something else.

Therefore, lots of people are convinced that “The Berenstein Bears” was at one point called that name, but someone reshaping the past could have made it change.

The Mandela Effect got its name because a wide variety of people distinctly remember Nelson Mandela dying in prison, but later discovered that he died after he was released.

There are numerous other pieces of “evidence” that are believed to have been shifted by the Mandela Effect, such as events, song lyrics, product brand names and titles of books, movies and television shows.

The conspiracy theory has gained much of its popularity from the internet, where people have been tweeting and making extensive YouTube videos about the topic.

“I heard about it on social media, and my friends were all freaking out about it. It is a really popular topic because there is evidence that it could exist,” Cindy Hogan ‘19 said.

Because of all the bizarre cases of common memories being proved wrong, many have developed a fascination with the theory.

“People are angry and confused because they thought they knew something precisely, but it turns out it had been different all along,” Fabry said.

When a large group of people feel confident that a specific event did occur, it often becomes basic knowledge that it did happen. But when it is proved to be incorrect, it throws people who had those thoughts off guard.

Although there are some that are certain this conspiracy theory is real, others think that it is unrealistic.

The group of non-believers say that everything has always been the same, but many have false memories or recalled the scenarios incorrectly.

It is also up for debate why the Mandela Effect has just recently been discovered and discussed. If the theory is supported by time travel, then why has nothing else been changed before present time?

“It seems questionable that the theory recently became known, and was never recognized in the past because if there is such thing as alternate universes, then people from the future could always be traveling back and forth between time periods,” said Hogan.

Obviously time travel is not possible in present time, but since it could potentially be possible in the future,then people from the future could already be going to the past and seeing different years and centuries.

The topic is spooky to many people, because it applies to a variety of people’s memories. A large number of people can relate to having a different recollection of events than what actually occurred.

“I believe in the Mandela Effect, because there is no way that tons of people could just have a bad memory of what they remember so vividly,” Fabry said.

What makes the conspiracy theory controversial is that some would say that people just have poor memories, and are trying to make a big deal out of nothing.But supporters would say that it is impossible that such a large amount of people could have the same misconceptions about the matters.

“Although there are some examples of the Mandela Effect, it seems unrealistic that all of the science fiction aspects could actually happen. The theory is just too questionable to be real,” Hogan said.