Many of you have probably already heard or read about this effect, and even if you have not heard or read it, then most likely you have come across its manifestations. In short, this is the effect of the so-called "false memories". You are sure of something until you are faced with the fact that in reality "everything is not at all like that." For example, remember the event and its date, but it either did not exist at all, or the date turns out to be different. You've read a magazine, and after years you want to find it again, but you find that there has never been such a magazine.
Those people who have a bad or "girlish" memory practically do not find such "wrong bookmarks" and "broken links". But those of us, and this is important, have a good and even photographic memory, at least once in our lives, may experience cognitive dissonance when objective reality conflicts with memories.
And so all this would be attributed to "false memories", mental disorders and errors of perception, if massive cases of this effect were not noted …
The Mandela Effect is named after South African freedom fighter Nelson Mandela. He passed away quietly at the end of 2013. But when this happened, at the same time, comments from surprised people began to appear on the Internet around the world, claiming that Mandela had died much earlier. Moreover, they called about the same time - the end of the 2000s, and the place of death - in prison. All these people also remembered that Mandela was called a "martyr" in the press because of his death in captivity, and this topic was discussed in the media for a long time. Only now there was none of this.
In America, at least three similar cases have been recorded over the past few years. In the topics of discussion of the effect on Russian sites, two more coincidences were found in the "wrong" memories.
This allows us to speak about the regularity, not the randomness of what is happening. Scientists prefer either not to comment on this effect in any way, or to attribute it to the "regenerative property of memory" (a person gradually forgets details, but subconsciously replaces the forgotten with something from later seen, heard or read - this is how "mass delusions" appear). But the fact (and we noted this at the beginning of the article for a reason) that it is people with a good memory who often experience this effect on themselves, as well as the fact that strangers in different parts of the world may have the same “wrong” memories, gives food for thought …