In music, in movies, on television and in popular culture. In all these areas, the so-called Mandela effect can occur, a phenomenon that occurs when a group of people take for granted something that has never happened. This does not have a conclusive explanation, but it is thought that it happens because memory is formed, in part, with personal knowledge and not with experiences.
If you’re asked to describe Mickey Mouse, you’d probably say that he wears suspenders on his clothes, while if you’re talking about Curious George, you’d mention that he has a tail. Well, it turns out that none of the characters have these elements, so if you think so, you are a victim of the so-called mandela effect.
It is a psychological effect that occurs when a large group of people have a memory, an idea or an image that confuses them, since it never happened, despite what they may believe.
What is the Mandela effect?
The Mandela Effect was first coined on the internet in 2009 by the blogger Fiona Broomewho realized that she and a large group of people remember the death in prison of Nelson Mandela in 1980.
However, the South African leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner did not die in prison, he was actually released and named president of the republic of South Africa. He only died in 2013.
Broone wrote about this on his website, so from then on it was called mandela effect the phenomenon in which two or more individuals, usually a large group, share a memory that has no real basis, that is, it never happened.
Examples of the Mandela effect in film and TV
Historical events, cartoons and movies, all are examples of mandela effect in today’s society. One of them happens in episode V of ‘Star Wars’. “No, I am your father”, is the phrase that Darth Vader says, and not “Look, I am your father”, as many think.
Another well-known scene that many remember in a way, but that does not correspond to reality, is that of Tom Cruise in ‘Risky Business’. This part of the film is popularly imitated with a white shirt and dark glasses, however, the protagonist does not wear glasses and his shirt is pink.
Cartoons are not spared from this either. In addition to the aforementioned examples of Mickey Mouse and Curious George; Pikachu and the Looney Tunes are also part of the mandela effect. The Pokémon character does not have a black line on its tail as some think, and it is not the “Looney Toons” as others believe.
Other examples in history or popular culture
One of the mandela effects most talked about on the Internet involves the character of the Monopoly board game. The logo depicts a well-dressed, apparently wealthy, mustachioed man. Although many people imagine him with a monocle in front of one of his eyes, the truth is that he does not wear and has not worn this piece.
On the other hand, some say that Kit Kat chocolate has a hyphen between the two words that make it up, contrary to the popular Coca-Cola drink, which does have a hyphen, but is omitted by most people.
finally another Mandela effect example which may sound familiar to you, happens at the end of Queen’s song, ‘We are the champions’. It turns out that at the end of the song, everyone completes the last part with a “of the world”, something that does not exist in the original recording.
Of course, it should be noted that Freddie Mercury did sing that (non-existent) part live, apparently, to please his fans.
Doesn’t that sound like that to you? Listen to the song and see for yourself:
Why does this phenomenon happen?
Although there is no conclusive explanation for why does the mandela effect happenFrom psychology there are some ideas that can help to understand the phenomenon.
According to the site Psychology-Onlinewhen we generate a memory, we activate a network of neurons that transfer specific information to different parts of the brain responsible for storing it.
Due to the above, it is specified that a memory is not based on the experience, but on the process just described, so it is possible to create memories of events that actually happened.
Going further, they explain that human memory is mostly constructivist, that is, it uses logical conjectures and own experiences to complement itself, even though they do not exist in reality.
It is at this point that a mandela effect in memories, since the brain “fills in gaps”, where there is no information.