Mandela effect
Shared false memories
The Mandela effect is a phenomenon where many people share a false memory of the same thing.
Named after widespread false recollections that Nelson Mandela died in prison in the 1980s (he died in 2013), it describes collective misremembering of details—movie quotes, brand spellings, historical events: Half the internet swears the Berenstain Bears was spelled "Berenstein." Explanations range from memory's malleability to pop-culture conflation to, among enthusiasts, parallel universes bleeding together.
Social news aggregator
- social mediaOnline content-sharing platforms
- online communitiesInternet-based social groups
- fan theoriesAudience speculation about fiction
- pop cultureMass entertainment and trends
nostalgia · shared belief · groupthink · echo chamber · urban legend · conspiracy theory · alternate timeline · parallel universe
Believed but fictional recall
- misrememberingInaccurate mental retrieval
- confabulationInvented memories believed true
- memory distortionInaccurate recall of events
- misattributionCrediting the wrong source
déjà vu · suggestibility · childhood memory · flashbulb memory
Discomfort from contradictory beliefs
- confabulationInvented memories believed true
- false beliefConviction contrary to reality
- pattern recognitionIdentifying regularities in inputs
- confirmation biasPreferring belief-supporting information
social conformity · suggestibility · priming · hindsight bias · cognitive bias · rationalization · herd mentality
Illustrated ursine family series
- Oscar MayerProcessed meat company
- Sex and the CityHBO series about Manhattan singles
- Mirror MirrorDoubled phrase seeking fairness
- spelling variantAcceptable alternate writing
Social news aggregator
- social mediaOnline content-sharing platforms
- online communitiesInternet-based social groups
- fan theoriesAudience speculation about fiction
pop culture · nostalgia · shared belief · groupthink · echo chamber · urban legend · conspiracy theory · alternate timeline · parallel universe · retcon
false memory
Believed but fictional recall
- misrememberingInaccurate mental retrieval
- confabulationInvented memories believed true
- memory distortionInaccurate recall of events
misattribution · déjà vu · suggestibility · childhood memory · flashbulb memory
cognitive dissonance
Discomfort from contradictory beliefs
- confabulationInvented memories believed true
- false beliefConviction contrary to reality
- pattern recognitionIdentifying regularities in inputs
confirmation bias · social conformity · suggestibility · priming · hindsight bias · cognitive bias · rationalization · herd mentality
Berenstain Bears
Illustrated ursine family series
- Oscar MayerProcessed meat company
- Sex and the CityHBO series about Manhattan singles
- Mirror MirrorDoubled phrase seeking fairness
- South AfricaCape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, Kruger National Park
- memory errorsmemory leak, false memory, memory distortion, misattribution, confabulation
- paranormalghosts, paranormal, haunting, poltergeist, apparition
Mandela effectcollective memory
Community's shared historical recall
institutional memory · cultural memory · common knowledge · oral history · folk memory
Mandela, effect, effects, effective, effectively, effectiveness, ineffective, effectual, ineffectual