The Mandela Effect

See anything wrong with the above quote? Well, of course you don't, it's one of the most iconic pop culture references ever. For decades, people have been quoting this scene from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes back, but have they been quoting it wrong?

The Mandela Effect

You, my friend, may have just stumbled upon The Mandela Effect; a popular theory that there may be more than one universe, and that two universes could have come together to form ours, sounds crazy, I get it. The theory began to circulate in late 2013, a bit after Nelson Mandela died. People began to claim that they had remembered him dying decades before this, while in jail. This wasn't just a few people either, there were hundreds of thousands that claimed they remembered his death decades before! Thus was born, The Mandela Effect.

Enter, Shane Dawson

Shane Dawson, a popular Youtuber known for a variety of videos, published a video called Conspiracy Theory—The Mandela Effect on August 30th, 2016. His video mentions Nelson Mandela's death, talks about the Berenstain Bears and how many people remember it spelled as "The Berenstein Bears," and how people remember Sex and the City as Sex in the City. His video captured the attention and imagination of his audience, and the Mandela Effect spread quickly. Youtubers, news stations; and plenty of online news organizations covered this, and began to find more Mandela Effects. Lyric changes in "We Are the Champions" by Queen, "I Am the Walrus" by The Beatles and "Africa" by Toto. The Mandela Effect took the internet by storm, but what is the Mandela Effect's cause?

Time Travel (Obviously)

One of the biggest theories proposed as to why this phenomenon occurs is that there were time travelers that somehow changed the past, and this had an effect on the future. Now I don't know why a time traveler would think that The Berenstain Bears lacked enough A's, but the theory is probably the most popular out of the bunch. It follows the same idea as The Butterfly Effect, that a very small change in the past could dramatically change the future, in ways we couldn't understand. For example, let's say Doctor Who kicks over the garbage can of his least favorite Dalek. The Dalek leaves the house while cooking a nice family dinner. The unattended stove causes a house fire. The house fire leaves poor Mr. Dalek a widower, and throws his financial plan out the window. This brief babble is probably the worst example I could possibly come up with of "The Butterfly Effect." In theory, a time traveler could have somehow altered the events that led up to Nelson Mandela's death, and prolonged his life for many more years. While we will never know, and this theory is truly bizarre, a lot of hardcore conspiracy theorists do genuinely feel that this could be a possible answer to the questions posed by the Mandela Effect.

The world ended twice.

My favorite of the theories, just because of how bizarre it is, is that the world ended twice and, because of that, we were pushed into a different universe. The theory claims that Y2K actually did end the world, and that for 12 years we lived in an alternate universe. This was until 2012, when the Mayan calendar ended; and with it, the world. This would make the Berenstain Bears a part of Y2K; maybe the newer effects like the fact that the line, "What if I told you everything was a lie?" never happened is a part of the second end of the world. My doubt about this theory is that if the world truly did end, don't you think we would all remember it? I mean, hellfire doesn't just rain from the sky every day, that would at least be journal worthy. This theory almost ties into my next one, but I figured I'd give you the best shot understanding it because even though I wrote it, I'm not sure I do.

'Rick and Morty?' Sure.

I'd like to think that this theory was concocted by a hardcore comic nerd, or a Rick and Morty superfan, but here it goes. The Mandela Effect was created because two different realities merged/crossed with each other to create our one, messed up and very confused reality. How our realities merged? Who knows. The one big problem with this theory is that, don't you think more things would be affected, than just song lyrics and pop culture names? Like, what if Grandma Applebomb became Grandpa AppleBomb? Or what if you woke up one day and everything seemed much bigger to you, only until you realized that you were a foot shorter than when you went to bed? If someone's Grandma magically became their Grandpa, I might actually consider the reality merge, but until that happens, I don't find it very believable. This next theory though is what I believe to be the least likely theory of the four.

False Memories? Preposterous!

This one I just find absolutely insane. There is no way this one could even be close to possible, but I guess it's worth a mention. The theory says that a good number of people remembered these things falsely because they all took place when people were young or a long time ago. This is why things like children's books, movies, and songs with a younger audience are very common in the Mandela Effect. Honestly, I don't believe this one bit. My memory is great, I won't be force-fed these lies. What's next? The earth is round!?

Curious?

If you would like to go deeper down the rabbit hole, my suggestion would be to search "Alice in Wonderland Mandela Effect" on Google (pun intended). It being my favorite movie of all time, and a high contender for my favorite book of all time; I would think I would know the smaller details, but it made me question how much I knew as a fan. If any effect were to convince me, it would be that one. Other trippy Mandela Effects are popular logos, song lyric changes, and even quotes that were never said. While I wouldn't say that I believe the theory, it's a very good way to waste an hour or two, and makes for great conversation at a party.