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National Geographic
a day ago
- Entertainment
- National Geographic
The Mandela effect tricks our brains with false memories. Is AI making it worse?
Darth Vader never said, 'Luke I am your father.' So why do we all think he did? Here's the science behind this strange phenomenon—and how AI is poised to send it into overdrive. Cape Town street art depicts former South African President Nelson Mandela. A phenomenon known as the Mandela effect originates from the false memory of Nelson Mandela passing away during his imprisonment in the 1980s. Photograph by Nardus Engelbrecht, AFP/Getty Images Darth Vader never actually said 'Luke I am your father.' Your favorite children's book series was the Berenstain Bears, not the Berenstein Bears. And the cow on Laughing Cow cheese never actually had a nose ring. These are some of the most famous examples of a phenomenon known as the Mandela effect —an experience where the public collectively misremembers an image, event, or phrase. It's possible that modern advances in technology, such as generative artificial intelligence, could lead to similar confusion but with potentially negative consequences. Exactly what role AI might play in the creation of our memories is something that experts in both human memory and AI misinformation are interested to find out. Here's how the Mandela effect explains the science of misremembering. What is the Mandela effect? The Mandela effect is a kind of false collective memory in which many people remember the same incorrect details about an event, phrase, or image. 'When we think of false memories, we usually think of them in an individual way, like, 'Oh I remember my second birthday party being a certain way' but when you look back at the photos [it's different],' says Wilma Bainbridge, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Chicago who has studied the Mandela effect. 'What's really striking about the Mandela effect is that it is a form of false memory that occurs across people.' Limited Time: Bonus Issue Offer Subscribe now and gift up to 4 bonus issues—starting at $34/year. The Mandela effect was coined in 2009 by paranormal researcher Fiona Broome when she noticed that many people shared a false memory about the death of South African President Nelson Mandela. Mandela died in 2013 from a lung infection, but many people falsely remember that he died while in prison in the 1980s for fighting against apartheid. (This ancient technique may help you remember almost anything.) Since then, examples of the Mandela effect have popped up in different forms with help from social media to bring together people to uncover these shared experiences. Bainbridge says millennial childhoods are often the breeding ground for this effect because they are some of the heaviest social media users on sites like Instagram or Reddit where these effects have been seen. That said, this effect can still be seen in some older iconography as well, she says. These altered memories are typically harmless. Yet at its core, the Mandela effect makes us doubt our own memories and even our sense of reality. Research behind the Mandela effect Scientific studies of the Mandela effect are still relatively new, but scientists have already been studying the creation of false memories for decades. This is part of the work that Aileen Oeberst does as a professor of social psychology at the University of Potsdam in Germany. Part of what makes memories so fallible is that the brain uses the same area—the hippocampus—for both imagination and memory storage, says Oeberst. 'That already suggests some important consequences for false memories,' she said. 'We know from research that if people imagine something repeatedly, they tend to believe at some point that they actually experienced it and that it is basically a memory.' (How using your senses could help you make stronger memories.) When you recall a memory, your brain doesn't play it back like a video but rather reconstructs it, which makes it susceptible to misremembering. For example, an individual might fill in the gaps in their memory with details they might expect to be true based on stereotypes. Or they might filter a memory through an emotionally charged lens—ultimately remembering what happened as having been better or worse than it really was. Memories that are novel, emotional, and self-relevant are more susceptible to these changes because we tend to remember and talk about them often, Oeberst says. (Yes, you can teach yourself to forget. And here's why you should.) Interestingly, however, these explanations don't totally fit what happens in the Mandela effect, says Bainbridge. In her 2022 work, Bainbridge and co-author Deepasri Prasad found that a Mandela effect memory can be formed even in opposition to a stereotype. To better understand how a Mandela effect is created, Bainbridge and Prasad studied people's reactions to different iconography, such as Curious George or Pikachu's tails, the Monopoly Man's outfit, or the Volkswagen logo. Take the Fruit of the Loom logo for example, Bainbridge says. The brand's logo is a collection of grapes with an apple at the center, and it floats on white background. 'The common false memory is that there's a giant cornucopia around the fruit [in the logo],' Bainbridge says. 'But we see fruit so often in our daily lives and when do we ever see a cornucopia?' Bainbridge and Prasad even seeded another false image of the Fruit of the Loom logo—this time placing the fruit on a plate instead of a cornucopia—but participants still chose the cornucopia more often than both the plate version and the actual logo. This research did not conclusively determine exactly what makes different icons or events susceptible to the Mandela effect, but Bainbridge says they could determine that simple images with just a couple of interesting quirks seem to be the most memorable. The researchers also found that what people misremember about these images is remarkably consistent and becomes stronger with repetition. In the future, Bainbridge is interested in extending this work to study exactly what makes an image memorable and even reverse engineering that to create new Mandela effects. This idea of solidifying false memories through repeated exposure is part of what could make false AI images such a risk, says Prasad, who is now a graduate student of psychological and brain sciences at Dartmouth. 'I think misinformation, especially when presented as the truth repeatedly, could definitely lead to the creation of false memories, or at least, doubting the validity of your own memories,' she says. False Memory and AI If the Berenstain Bears are a standout example of the Mandela effect, then the viral image of the late Pope Francis wearing a giant Balenciaga puffer jacket is a standout example of what this phenomenon could look like in the world of AI. 'The pope in a fluffy coat was one of the first [generative AI images] that went viral,' says Jen Golbeck, a professor at the University of Maryland's College of Information who studies AI, social media, and trust online. 'And there's probably people who saw that image and didn't realize that it was [AI] generated. We're in such an interesting time now where people know they have to be suspicious, but some people just don't care.' There are a number of headwinds that have made the perfect storm for this kind of misinformation to spread, Golbeck said, including the rise of 'fake news' sites, the erosion of institutional trust throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and the rise of increasingly convincing content from gen-AI. The risk of being tricked by AI comes not only from human-prompted creations, but from believing AI hallucinations as well. Even for those who pride themselves on being good at sniffing out AI images, it's becoming harder and harder to do so. One of the biggest risks, says Oeberst, is that our brains are predisposed to forget source information more quickly than content, meaning that we may remember what a false AI image looked like but forget that we're meant to distrust it. Because generative AI is new and evolving, researchers don't know about its future risks. However, they are eager to explore this technology's influence on both individual false memories and the Mandela effect. Both Oeberst and Prasad are interested in whether false AI images will be believed more readily if they reinforce someone's beliefs or opinions, and Golbeck is interested in whether AI can play a role in reinforcing false memories. The researchers agree that long-term studies will be important to understand the extent of these interactions between memory, images, and AI. As for what we can all do right now to keep our memories safe from corruption, Golbeck says it's important to lean on community. 'One important step is to really establish a cohort of people that you do trust,' Golbeck said. 'Like journalists, scientists, politicians, who you've really evaluated and are going to tell you correct information, even if it's not what you want to hear. I think that's critical.'
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Mandela effect: 10 examples and why it happens
If you distinctly remember the Berenstain Bears books being spelled "Berenstein" or you know Pikachu has a black-tipped tail, you're not alone, but you're not correct. Don't worry, your brain isn't broken — you're just experiencing the Mandela Effect. In other words, you have a certain memory of something, like Mickey Mouse without a tail, but it's actually a false memory. (Spoiler alert: he does have a tail. He's a mouse, after all!) The Mandela effect is wild because it's often a false memory that many of us share. Some TikTok users even describe the phenomenon as proof we've shifted timelines where events, products and pop-culture references have all been affected — but, importantly, these are only conspiracy theories. To get to the bottom of this memory mystery, I chatted with Wilma Bainbridge, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Chicago, to find out why people have false memories and where the Mandela effect came from. And if you're curious to see how your own memory holds up, I've included some classic Mandela Effect examples below. Let's see how many you remember correctly! What is the Mandela effect? What's the history behind the Mandela effect? Why does it happen? Popular examples of the Mandela effect How do conspiracy theories relate to the Mandela effect? What can you do if you're experiencing false memories? Can hypnosis help retrieve real memories? "The Mandela Effect is a pervasive false memory where people are very confident about a memory they have that's incorrect," Bainbridge tells Yahoo. It's often associated with pop culture. In reality, people have seen the correct version of the product or reference in question, but many have the same wrong memory of how it looks or is spelled. "The Mandela effect is so striking and popular because we have a shared creepy, weird feeling because what you thought was reality isn't actually the case," she says. (back to top) The term was coined in 2009 by paranormal researcher Fiona Broome, who wrongly recalled that former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela died in prison in the 1980s, Bainbridge notes. Broome discovered the truth during a conference where others had the same "memory." (Mandela was released from prison in 1990 and died in 2013.) (back to top) "This is still an open question," Bainbridge says. "We've tried to pinpoint several explanations but there's no one good explanation." She notes that, in general, people have a schema for how things should look in the world and filter their memories through that lens. Let's look at Mr. Monopoly, mascot of the famous board game. If you think of a rich man from the early 1900s, you might envision him with a monocle or pocket watch even though Mr. Monopoly has neither. But we imagine he does because he's portrayed as a rich character — and, of course, he does wear a tuxedo and a top hat. Bainbridge conducted an experiment that included participants who had never heard of Mr. Monopoly. They participants saw the correct image of the Monopoly character — sans monocle — and after a brief delay, they were asked to draw the character they just saw. Many times, the participants drew him wearing a monocle. "This shows false memory is happening pretty rapidly," Bainbridge explains. "It doesn't take long to forget specifics of an image and add details that you think you saw." Even people who are more familiar with certain icons and characters can make mistakes. For instance, some Pokemon fans remember Pikachu having a black-tipped tail even though it's completely yellow. (They could be confusing his tail with his black-tipped ears.) (back to top) Here are some Mandela effect examples that have confused me over the years — and many others too. Grab your friends and see which false memories you may share. Fake: A Shazaam movie starring Sinbad as a genie. Reality: No such movie exists, but there is a movie called Kazaam where Shaquille O'Neal plays a genie. Fake: The Fruit of the Loom logo has a cornucopia. Reality: There's never been a cornucopia in the underwear brand's logo. Fake: Febreeze Reality: The air- and garment-freshener is Febreze — there have never been double E's in the name. Fake: Chic-fil-A Reality: The restaurant's name, Chick-fil-A, has always been spelled with a K. Fake: Tostino's pizza rolls Reality: The brand has always been spelled Totino's, without the first S. Fake: In Snow White, the evil queen says, "Mirror, mirror on the wall." Reality: She really says, "Magic mirror on the wall." Fake: Stove Top stuffing is made by Stouffer's. Reality: The stuffing is made by Kraft Heinz. Fake: Looney Toons, with "toons" spelled like "cartoons." Reality: Looney Tunes, with "tunes" spelled like music (the cartoons featured classical scores). Fake: Mickey Mouse wears suspenders in Steamboat Willy. Reality: This is another Mickey Mouse conspiracy theory — he never wore suspenders as Steamboat Willy (or any other character). Fake: Cheez-Itz, Cheez-Its. Reality: The snack has always been spelled Cheez-It. (back to top) If you've been on social media in the last few years, you've likely heard users discussing conspiracy theories about how the Mandela effect is evidence for shifting realities or timelines. For instance, they might say we grew up in a world where Mr. Monopoly wore a monocle, and somehow we've shifted into a parallel dimension where he doesn't. Bainbridge says this relates to how much we rely on our memories, since we feel like our memories are the truth. However, she says her team's research debunks the parallel-dimension theory because people associate something they've never seen with something familiar. She explains to her participants that since their false recollections occurred in such a short time frame, it's highly unlikely that they jumped to a new dimension. (back to top) With social media use, people are seeing false memories circulate as often as real ones, Bainbridge says, which makes it harder to test participants because these images are all over apps like TikTok and Facebook. But if you can focus on your memory and think of why you remember it that way, you might find the connection that's causing you to forget what you actually saw, she says. For instance, you may be associating Looney Tunes with cartoons, so you imagine the spelling as Looney Toons. Simply learning about the Mandela effect can help because it often solves the problem of seeing false images, Bainbridge adds. So looking into the history of these theories can help you learn the truth of why you're imagining the wrong reference or image. It may also help to ask friends and family members what they remember when it comes to a Mandela effect that's throwing you off. (However, if they all have the same false memories, this may make it harder to believe the truth!) (back to top) This one is tricky, Bainbridge explains, because "neuroscientists haven't found a clear signal in the brain for when a memory is false or true." Once your memory is saved, it looks the same on paper. It's hard to know what's reality based on the brain, she says. "When you have a memory, it doesn't stay stagnant because you're constantly updating it, and outsiders influence how you experienced it." For example, someone might remember different details of an event than you, and if they tell that story over and over, you might start to believe you witnessed it that way too. "People can influence memories so it feels like a real memory." Ultimately, because brains don't hold a perfect record of events that happened, hypnosis might not be able to get you back to the original memory, Bainbridge says. While experiencing the Mandela effect isn't a mental health issue, if you feel like it's negatively interfering with your life, you can speak with a therapist about the false memories. Additionally, here are the best online psychiatry services, the best affordable online therapy providers and the best online therapy for kids. (back to top) Our health content is for informational purposes only and is not intended as professional medical advice. Consult a medical professional on questions about your health.
