A few months ago, I heard about something called the Mandela Effect. Per a Buzzfeed article I read, this "is what the internet is calling those curious instances in which many of us are certain we remember something a particular way, but it turns out we’re incorrect."
This intrigued me because months before I heard the words Mandela Effect, I had my own experience with it. I saw something online about the Berenstain Bears and I was like, that's not right. It's the Berenstein Bears. I was so positive about it, that I thought the author of the piece I was reading was wrong. Until I reached the picture of the book cover.
My memory of books, TV, movies, music from when I was a kid is pretty good and this bothered me. I was rarely this sure of something like this only to be totally wrong. And guess what? In the Buzzfeed article one of the examples of the Mandela Effect is the Berenstain Bears.
This is where I sheepishly admit that it was probably just remembering incorrectly on my part. Actually, most of the examples given at Buzzfeed are easily explained away and I can't say I experienced any of them except for the bears. Still, it's intriguing to think about the possibilities of alternate universes somehow merging.
Actually, the most intriguing part is how many people remember something completely differently than reality. What if there is something to this? That was my writer's brain cranking up. There are so many possibilities for stories here.
If you'd like to read more Mandela Effect memories, there's a website for that. I find this whole thing fascinating.
