Mandela Effect Explained: Why Do Some People Get False Memory?

In 2009, writer and researcher Fiona Broome discovered that she, along with several people, believed that former South African President Nelson Mandela died in prison in the 1980s. The truth is Mandela became president after serving 27 years in prison and died in 2013. Broome coined the term 'Mandela Effect' in a situation where many believe an event occurred when it did not.

The story of Nelson Mandela is not the only example of this type of false group memory. For instance, many people remember that the Pokémon character Pikachu has a black-tipped tail when, in reality, it always had a solid yellow tail. There is also a group of people who claim that New Zealand is in the northeast of Australia instead of the southeast.

Memory is said to be highly malleable. Input from other people can change memories and cause people to misremember events or remember those that never happened. There are some potential causes of the Mandela Effect.

False Memories

False memories refer to untrue or distorted recollections of an event. Some contain elements of fact that closely resemble the actual event in question, while others are entirely false. Since memory is very suggestible, it can be influenced by information from another person, a desire to believe something different, or incorrect information online.

Humans can believe a wide variety of false information. In a 2020 study, researchers examined whether people could identify rich false memories. Participants were presented with two videos, one of a person recalling an accurate emotional memory and another of the same person recalling a false memory. It was found that people could not distinguish false from real memories.

Confabulation

Confabulation refers to false memories a person spontaneously generates, usually to compensate for discrepancies in a person's memory. This condition is a common symptom of neurological states that affect memory, like Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. When a person with dementia confabulates, they are not lying or attempting to deceive but do not have the necessary information to recall a specific memory or event accurately.

Priming

In psychology, priming is a phenomenon where exposure to a stimulus directly influences an individual's response to a subsequent stimulus. For instance, if a person hears the word "grass," they will recognize another word like "tree" or "lawnmower" more quickly than an unrelated word.

Misleading Post-Event Information

Information learned by a person after an event can change their memory. This includes subtle information and can help explain why eyewitness testimony can sometimes be unreliable.

Alternate Realities

Another theory for the basis for the Mandela effect originates from quantum physics and relates to the idea that alternative universes may be taking place and mixing with our timeline. Scientists have not tested the claim that the Mandela effect provides evidence for multiple universes.

Evidence from memory research suggests that other theories of false memory might better explain this phenomenon. Although mathematical modeling supports string theory and the notion of multiple universes, both remain controversial.