Mandela Effect

[deathrey]

4 minutes ago, DavidB6937 said:

It's the same with plenty of song lyrics that I've got absolutely wrong over the years but there's no chance I'm changing them now.

I thought Smooth Criminal was 'Eddie are you ok?' rather than 'Annie are you ok?' till I was embarrassingly old, I still sing it wrong (on the rare occasion I hear it on the radio, I don't actively listen to MJ).

[Arch Stanton]

1 hour ago, BomberPat said:

It's an act of monumental self-absorption to think that the explanation of alternate timelines or widespread conspiracy is somehow more believable than "you remembered something wrong".

That's not what the Mandela Effect is though, in fairness. It's not the Mandela Effect if I wrongly remember a random fact. It's the large number of people sharing the same false memory that makes it interesting. There are very few good examples, to be fair. The Mandela one in particular, doesn't work for me at all, as he lived over twenty years after his release from prison and he was a very prominent figure during those years. I don't know how people got confused with that one.

[Chilly McFreeze]

'If you build it, he will come'

Found out recently it's he not they. We all thought we'd found a new Mandela Effect.

Then I realised I've never seen Field Of Dreams but I have seen Wayne's World 2.

[BomberPat]

8 minutes ago, Arch Stanton said:

That's not what the Mandela Effect is though, in fairness. It's not the Mandela Effect if I wrongly remember a random fact. It's the large number of people sharing the same false memory that makes it interesting. 

For the most part, though, while it's interesting, it's usually completely explicable....

2 minutes ago, Chilly McFreeze said:

'If you build it, he will come'

Found out recently it's he not they. We all thought we'd found a new Mandela Effect.

Then I realised I've never seen Field Of Dreams but I have seen Wayne's World 2.

...and things like this are often why. When something is referenced, especially comedically, that extends the shelf life of the quote or memory. People think the line in The Empire Strikes Back was "Luke, I am your father" because every time someone has referenced that moment, or done an impression of Darth Vader, they've started with "Luke...", because they've stripped the quote from context and because "Luke" is the quick tell as to what impression you're doing.


So, yes, they're often a shared false memory, but I don't find the fact that it's shared to be particularly interesting because the root explanation remains the same - you're asked a leading question about something you have only the fuzziest of memories of, and your memory fills in the blanks, usually with the help of some extraneous context; other versions of a quote or image do exist, as reference or parody, and they cloud your recollection.

I don't find the core Nelson Mandela example all that interesting, largely because I've never encountered anyone who believes it, and because it seems to be the most blatant example of the self-absorption I'm talking about - to learn that one of the most prominent international statesmen of the twentieth century died decades after you thought he did should be cause to consider your own ignorance about world affairs, and it is profoundly egotistical to instead insist that you must be correct and that it's the universe that's wrong. I've seen various "explanations" - misremembering the death of Steve Biko as the death of Nelson Mandela (which doesn't work for me, as the false timeline for Mandela's "death in prison" is usually given as the mid-80s", but the most likely to me is that someone saw tributes and concerts in Mandela's honour while he was imprisoned, and mistook them for a funeral, and then remained incredibly incurious for decades after the fact. I would be amazed if there is anyone in South Africa who shares that false memory, and almost as surprised if anyone in the UK does, it seems to exclusively exist among white Americans.

 

The only one that I find even vaguely difficult to explain is the Sinbad genie movie thing - but even then, the simplest explanation is just "you're wrong, and you've let the internet convince you that there's something special in your wrongness". For a movie that people apparently vividly remember, I've never seen one person able to explain the plot, name a single other member of the supposed cast, the director, the details of a specific scene - nothing, quite frankly, that would convince you that there is a widespread memory of an actual film.

[Arch Stanton]

Bomber, I think you've mistaken the Mandela Effect for something other than an amusing internet nostalgia phenomenon. You've got yourself far more wound up about it in one post there, than it has ever warranted.

[JLM]

55 minutes ago, TheBurningRed said:

I was convinced for years Old Mout Cider was called Old Mount. In fact, I was so sure that it was Mount, that I read it on the bottle and seen it on adverts and they must've changed the name to Mout.

Also it’s pronounced “moot” rather than “mowt”.  I looked it up one time because I zoned out during a really boring pub conversation and realised I’d never heard it said out loud. I realise this is more boring than the pub conversation could possibly have been, but there has never been any other opportunity in my life for me to share this trivia. Now you too can hover around the bar and wait for someone to say it so you can correct and impress them. Great way to make friends. 

[Chest Rockwell]

Nah, I'm team Pat. It's shit and stupid. 

[Chest Rockwell]

4 minutes ago, JLM said:

Also it’s pronounced “moot” rather than “mowt”.  I looked it up one time because I zoned out during a really boring pub conversation and realised I’d never heard it said out loud. I realise this is more boring than the pub conversation could possibly have been, but there has never been any other opportunity in my life for me to share this trivia. Now you too can hover around the bar and wait for someone to say it so you can correct and impress them. Great way to make friends. 

Sorry double post as this wasn't there before. I knew the pronunciation because I saw it in their marketing. Great fucking product name, guys, no-one even knows how you're supposed to say it, to the point where you had to run ads to tell them.

There's a series on jazzfm where the lead sponsor has a completely incomprehensible name. I must have heard the sponsorship ident about a million times and still would not be able to look the company up as I have no idea how to spell their name (obviously I'm sure I would find it if I really wanted to but you get my point). 

Edited 18 hours ago by Chest Rockwell

[Carbomb]

22 minutes ago, Chest Rockwell said:

Sorry double post as this wasn't there before. I knew the pronunciation because I saw it in their marketing. Great fucking product name, guys, no-one even knows how you're supposed to say it, to the point where you had to run ads to tell them.

To be fair, that's what Ikea and Hyundai have been doing as well.

 

The Mandela Effect thing confuses me, to be honest, because such a big deal was made of 

1. Mandela finally being freed

2. His leading the ANC in the first post-Apartheid elections

3. His being president

I didn't, until this thread, realise it referred to people thinking he died in gaol, because that is just absurd. I thought it was that people had thought he'd died a year or two after leaving office, presumably based on the simple phenomenon of him being quite elderly, and out of the public eye.

 

Of course, as this is a wrestling forum, I suppose the most prominent example of the Mandela Effect is Shawn Michaels superkicking Marty Jannetty through the Barbershop window. 

Edited 18 hours ago by Carbomb

[Chili]

Is Keenan & Kel being in a car crash an example pre getting the internet to verify stuff a Mandela effect because Kel kind of vanished for a while, or as it didn't happen it's a schoolyard urban legend? Like *insert Rod Stewart/Marc Almond* had an accident and they stomach pumped a load of spunk. 

Can't believe I typed that, more so if I now discover this is literally something only I've heard of.

[Ro_y Disco]

31 minutes ago, Chest Rockwell said:

Great fucking product name, guys, no-one even knows how you're supposed to say it, to the point where you had to run ads to tell them.

Off topic (for a thread that was already spun off for being off topic) but Xero winds me up for this reason. Their radio ad tagline is "search Xero with an X". If you've never seen it written down, what does that even mean?? Zerox? I don't really know what the business actually does and the stupid spelling makes me never want to find out.

[gmoney]

5 minutes ago, Chili said:

Is Keenan & Kel being in a car crash an example pre getting the internet to verify stuff a Mandela effect because Kel kind of vanished for a while, or as it didn't happen it's a schoolyard urban legend? Like *insert Rod Stewart/Marc Almond* had an accident and they stomach pumped a load of spunk. 

Can't believe I typed that, more so if I now discover this is literally something only I've heard of.

No, those are urban legends 

[TheBurningRed]

36 minutes ago, Chest Rockwell said:

guys, no-one even knows how you're supposed to say it, to the point where you had to run ads to tell them.

No bar staff corrected me saying mount. They probably weren't sure either and would accept anything.

[westlondonmist]

25 minutes ago, Carbomb said:

To be fair, that's what Ikea and Hyundai have been doing as well.

 

The Mandela Effect thing confuses me, to be honest, because such a big deal was made of 

1. Mandela finally being freed

2. His leading the ANC in the first post-Apartheid elections

3. His being president

I didn't, until this thread, realise it referred to people thinking he died in gaol, because that is just absurd. I thought it was that people had thought he'd died a year or two after leaving office, presumably based on the simple phenomenon of him being quite elderly, and out of the public eye.

 

Of course, as this is a wrestling forum, I suppose the most prominent example of the Mandela Effect is Shawn Michaels superkicking Marty Jannetty through the Barbershop window. 

Yep, we all know Jannetty tried to dive through the window.

[Jazzy G]

3 hours ago, DavidB6937 said:

It's the same with plenty of song lyrics that I've got absolutely wrong over the years but there's no chance I'm changing them now.

That's a Mondegreen, not the Mandela Effect 

 

1 hour ago, Ro_y Disco said:

Off topic (for a thread that was already spun off for being off topic) but Xero winds me up for this reason. Their radio ad tagline is "search Xero with an X". If you've never seen it written down, what does that even mean?? Zerox? I don't really know what the business actually does and the stupid spelling makes me never want to find out.

I think it's some kind of accounting software or company, but every time it plays on the radio I turn to Vicky and say "it's that photocopier advert again".