WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: What Is the Mandela Effect?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren vogelbaumb here with a classic for you from the vault.

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<v Speaker 1>In this one, we talk about the Mandela effect, that

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<v Speaker 1>strange phenomenon where lots of people misremember the same thing

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<v Speaker 1>in the same way. I probably don't say it enough

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<v Speaker 1>on this show given the show's name, but brains are weird.

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff, Lauren vogelbomb here. Accountless humans have watched

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<v Speaker 1>the Star Wars movies.

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<v Speaker 2>And most of them will tell you that the bumbling

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<v Speaker 2>droid named C Threepo is gold all over. But did

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<v Speaker 2>you know that C three Po actually has one silver leg?

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<v Speaker 2>And what's that immortal line Darth Vader utters in the

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<v Speaker 2>movie The Empire strikes back. It's not Luke, I am

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<v Speaker 2>your father. He actually says, no, I am your father.

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<v Speaker 2>Both of these are pop culture examples of what's called

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<v Speaker 2>the Mandela effect, which are false memories shared among a

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<v Speaker 2>large popular of people, a collective misremembering of sorts. The

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<v Speaker 2>phrase was coined around two thousand and nine by self

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<v Speaker 2>described paranormal consultant Fiona Broome, who used it to explain

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<v Speaker 2>the phenomenon where many people around the world believed that

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<v Speaker 2>the South African leader Nelson Mandela died in prison in

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<v Speaker 2>the nineteen eighties, but he was released in nineteen ninety

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<v Speaker 2>later served as president of the country, and died in

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<v Speaker 2>twenty thirteen at the age of ninety five. Broome's theory

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<v Speaker 2>is that at all times, there are multiple realities of

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<v Speaker 2>each universe sometimes called the multiverse, and that within each

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<v Speaker 2>universe there are variations or iterations of objects, people, and events. So,

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<v Speaker 2>according to this theory, memories of these incorrect shared moments

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<v Speaker 2>are not really false. There are just instances where parallel

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<v Speaker 2>universes crossed paths for an instant. The multiverse theory is

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<v Speaker 2>also applied to various concepts in physics and spider man

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<v Speaker 2>a science has other explanations for how the Mandela effect happens.

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<v Speaker 2>Much of it boils down to the fact that human

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<v Speaker 2>memory is notoriously unreliable. In this our age of digital technologies,

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<v Speaker 2>we often equate our brains with computer hard drives, as

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<v Speaker 2>though our experiences are typed up and filed away in

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<v Speaker 2>our own organic storage. However, our prefrontal cortices, where many

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<v Speaker 2>memories are stored, don't work with the same precision as

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<v Speaker 2>a hard drive. We spoke via email with Caitlin Amote, ACLA,

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<v Speaker 2>PhD candidate in neuroscience. She says that based on what

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<v Speaker 2>we know about the brain, we can make inferences about

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<v Speaker 2>what contributes to the Mandela effect. Quote. Memories are organized

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<v Speaker 2>in the brain so that similar memories are stored in

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<v Speaker 2>nearby neurons. When a memory is recalled, those cells are

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<v Speaker 2>able to change their connections, which allows for the addition

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<v Speaker 2>of new information. But because neurons that fire together wired together,

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<v Speaker 2>sometimes false memories can emerge from erroneous connections. While we

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<v Speaker 2>might think of recalling memories as solidifying them in our brains,

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<v Speaker 2>science seems to suggest otherwise. Recalling a memory often triggers

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<v Speaker 2>other memories in the process, often intertwining varies, scenarios, and

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<v Speaker 2>people in new ways, a sort of reconsolidating of the

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<v Speaker 2>information in our brains. Human beings are also vulnerable to

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<v Speaker 2>the concept of confabulation, which is an error or misinterpretation

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<v Speaker 2>regarding a memory without a conscious attempt to mislead ourselves

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<v Speaker 2>or others. Confabulation occurs when the brain is attempting to

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<v Speaker 2>fill in the blanks for incomplete memories. A speaker may

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<v Speaker 2>mix and match similar experiences and information in order to

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<v Speaker 2>complete a story in their mind, complete with details and

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<v Speaker 2>emotional responses, certain that the tale is true. This kind

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<v Speaker 2>of behavior happens more frequently in people coping with neurological

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<v Speaker 2>issues such as brain damage or Alzheimer's, but healthy individuals

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<v Speaker 2>confabulate too. Okay, so that might explain how one person

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<v Speaker 2>misremembers something, But why would lots of people misremember the

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<v Speaker 2>same facts. Emote points to a twenty sixteen psychology study

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<v Speaker 2>showing that eighty eight percent of people in an online

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<v Speaker 2>survey incorrectly picked Alexander Hamilton as a US president from

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<v Speaker 2>a list of possible cause candidates. Hamilton's recognition rate was

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<v Speaker 2>much higher than that of some actual presidents like Franklin

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<v Speaker 2>Pierce and Chester Arthur. Hamilton was actually the first Secretary

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<v Speaker 2>of Treasury, but since he's associated with many early US

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<v Speaker 2>presidents and has a hit Broadway show with his name

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<v Speaker 2>in the title, one or many could be forgiven for

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<v Speaker 2>mistaking him for a former commander in chief. Amote also

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<v Speaker 2>notes the power of suggestion. She said, suggestibility is the

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<v Speaker 2>tendency to believe what others suggest to be true. This

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<v Speaker 2>is why lawyers are prohibited from asking witnesses leading questions

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<v Speaker 2>that suggest a specific answer. These days, there's also the

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<v Speaker 2>viral power of the Internet and its ability to magnify

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<v Speaker 2>human error, suggestibility, and gullibility. Just for example, if one

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<v Speaker 2>person should vociferously claim that the actor Sinbad starred in

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<v Speaker 2>a nineties movie about a genie called Shazam and could

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<v Speaker 2>pro offer plot details that strike a chord with other readers,

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<v Speaker 2>this could generate a false narrative that many people might

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<v Speaker 2>believe to be true or even claim to remember themselves

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<v Speaker 2>in actuality. The actor in the nineties movie about a

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<v Speaker 2>genie was Shaquille O'Neil and the film was called Kazam.

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<v Speaker 2>Experiments continually demonstrate just how flawed human memory can be.

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<v Speaker 2>In one test, about thirty percent of subjects confirmed they

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<v Speaker 2>had viewed video footage of United Flight ninety three, which

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<v Speaker 2>crashed as part of these September eleventh terrorist attacks. No

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<v Speaker 2>such footage exists. Even twenty percent of people with highly

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<v Speaker 2>superior autobiographical memory, that is incredibly accurate memories reported viewing

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<v Speaker 2>the non existent video and outside of the lab, examples

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<v Speaker 2>of the Mandela effect are pretty common. Are the popular

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<v Speaker 2>cartoon bears called the barn Steinbars or the barn Stain Bears.

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<v Speaker 2>It's the latter something that shocks many people who remember

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<v Speaker 2>reading these books as children. And do you remember a

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<v Speaker 2>famous portrait of England's King Henry the Eighth grasping a

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<v Speaker 2>turkey leg? So do a lot of other people, but

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<v Speaker 2>it never existed.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article the Mandela Effect

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<v Speaker 1>Why so many recall events that never occurred? On how

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<v Speaker 1>stuffworks dot com Written by Nathan Chandler. Brain Stuff is

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<v Speaker 1>production by Heart Radio in partnership with HowStuffWorks dot Com

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<v Speaker 1>and is produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts from

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<v Speaker 1>my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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