In some instances, this happens on a larger scale, in which a large group of people clings to a distortion of reality. This phenomenon is called the Mandela effect, and chances are, you’ve fallen prey to it at some point. It occurs when a group of people becomes immune to the truth, for no reason other than the fact that they’ve somehow convinced themselves of an alternative. “It comes back to having a false memory, [and] mistakenly recalling experiences or events that have not occurred or even distorting existing memories,” Frederick tells mbg of the phenomenon. “The unconscious creation of fabricated or misinterpretation of memories is called confabulation. In everyday life, confabulation is relatively standard.” “The phrase ‘Mandela effect’ started at Dragon Con, America’s second-largest sci-fi and fantasy gathering,” Broome explains in a YouTube video on the subject. Broome was in attendance as a celebrity guest speaker, and during one of the conversations she was involved in, the event’s security manager said their chat reminded him of the “people who remember Nelson Mandela dying, decades ago. That got my attention because I was someone who had one of those memories, but I’d never mentioned that memory to anyone because it seemed so weird, and I never found an explanation for it.” This sense of eerie camaraderie led Broome to launch her website, MandelaEffect.com, and over 10 years later, “tens of thousands of readers” continue to share their unexplained memories, and the theories they have about them. “It turned out, the Nelson Mandela memory was just the tip of the iceberg,” Broome goes on to say in her video. “Anyone can experience [the effect]…all it takes is that one memory, something they’re absolutely certain of, that doesn’t fit this reality.” “Although the idea of false memories makes some people uncomfortable, memory mistakes are pretty standard,” Frederick tells mbg. “Your memory does not work like a camera by cataloging images, statements, and events in their purest forms. Your personal bias and emotions can influence your memories.” This false memory phenomenon was explored in a 2017 study1 performed by psychologists Enmanuelle Pardilla-Delgado, Ph.D., and Jessica D. Payne, Ph.D., at the University of Notre Dame. The researchers introduced false memories via the DRM task paradigm2 (a protocol that lists semantically related words). Interestingly, they found that the more words listed, the more likely false memories were to occur. “One particularly important factor to keep in mind for future experiments is that increasing the number of semantically related words in each list boosts the false memory effect, i.e., in order to increase the probability of false recall/recognition, it is paramount that experimenters present as many words as possible (for each list) during encoding,” the authors concluded in their paper. While the study specifically documents the likelihood of false memory development as a result of semantically related words, it parallels the false memories of real events in that, the more detailed someone can recall an event, even if it didn’t take place, the more likely someone is to believe it and, as a result, commit it to memory as fact. In her video titled “What is the Mandela effect?” Broome repeatedly points out that those experiencing the Mandela effect are experiencing memories that never occurred in “this reality,” as if to insinuate that the Mandela effect occurs when reality interacts with another alternate reality or parallel universe. An explanation that, according to Frederick, originates from quantum physics, string theory, and M-theory. “String theory is essentially a theoretical framework that explains the very nature of reality and the entire universe in terms of tiny strings that vibrate in 10 different dimensions,” Frederick explains. And though highly controversial and unproven, based on string theory alone, Frederick says, “one can assert that our universe is only one of many, potentially infinite, other universes known as the multiverse.” The idea of past-life memories also correlates with these paranormal theories, though according to Jim Tucker, M.D., past-life memories are typically recounted by children, and are often forgotten by the age of seven. Still, there are so many questions left unanswered on the subject of consciousness and what lies beyond the physical world, that we cannot confirm nor deny these theories, no matter how out-of-the-box they sound. “We are not just physical beings trapped in a random universe for a few decades and then we’re gone,” Tucker previously told mbg. “This is a hopeful message for people.” For example, back in August of 2020, the hashtag #RIPEminem gained traction on Twitter after one user Tweeted “I have killed Eminem.” Fans flocked to the platform to express concern for the rapper’s well-being, many believing he’d died. The tweet turned out to be, unsurprisingly, a hoax, and Marshall Mathers is still alive and well to this day. “For the most part, [moments of déjà rêvé] are within the realm of normal, even common, experiences,” therapist and dream expert Leslie Ellis, Ph.D., previously told mbg. “But they also remind us that life, at any moment, can be or feel extraordinary.” These are called “collective false memories,” and they occur because, well, humans tend to take what others say as fact. This is known as “suggestibility,” and it can quickly lead to collective false memories. “When misinformation is introduced, it can compromise the fidelity of an existing memory, which is precisely why an attorney can object to ’leading questions’ that suggest a specific answer in a court of law,” Frederick tells mbg. The truth may be entirely different from the collective memory, but if a large enough group of people recall an event or situation a certain way, they’ll continue to do so—true or not. Renowned parenting expert, licensed educational psychologist, and board-certified behavior analyst Reena B. Patel, LEP, BCBA, adds that, sometimes, humans will also fill in the gaps of memory in order to make sense of it. “We try to remember every detail that happened, and when others who may not remember [all the details either] agree with us, it becomes more set in stone,” Patel tells mbg. In these circumstances, collective false memory is caused by the reinforcement and validation by others. While the Mandela effect is seemingly out of our control, there are other out-of-this-world phenomena you can consciously tap into and create for yourself, such as spiritual awakenings and lucid dreams.
