Have you ever had a false memory?

[TipsyTraveler]

I'm almost 40 years old and until this moment when I Googled it, I also thought Eli Whitney was a black man.

I'm also late thirties. I really believe our generation was being taught he was black due to a curriculum error.

 

[BrianL]

I might be getting into semantics here but the Mandela Effect is a real thing -- that being the terminology for a collective false memory -- it's the reason it happens that's debated.

I know human memory isn't very reliable so mistakes, even when they're shared by a large number of people, are to be expected. Berenstain vs. Berenstein would be one such example in my mind. Perhaps the teacher who read those books to us in school pronounced it in such a way that the name had more of an E sound to my ear and I just assumed a different spelling than what was actually on the cover of the book. That seems like a likely enough explanation that could apply to other people as well. Also, I imagine the "stein" suffix is more common than "stain" so it's not surprising to me that many people are making the same mistake.

Eli Whitney, as I already explained, is an example of how people could be remembering something accurately, the issue is that the information was given to them incorrectly in the first place. I've heard that many people a generation or two older than I believed for a long time that the correct spelling of dilemma was dilemna, and they are so sure they were taught this spelling that they think it's likely they were taught this spelling as a result of a textbook misprint. That sounds plausible to me.

The Columbine one is the one that leaves me scratching my head. How strange to have had this very detailed memory for well over a decade before realizing it was false, but I can accept that I was wrong and perhaps I'd conflated that memory with something else. To then learn that so many other people made the exact same mistake about the date being 1996 doesn't make me feel better, it frustrates me. Because, why? What happened that made so many of us think Columbine happened in 1996? It's just so random. Trust me, I'm not looking for company to make me feel better about being wrong. I'm okay with being wrong, I'd just rather think I'm dumb all by myself.

Well, I have always heard the term "Mandela Effect" referring to the fact that alternate realities have leaked into our own. This did not happen. The collective false memory thing is not something that needs an explanation. People are mistaken. Period. Human memory is not perfect. There doesn't need to be anything that explains that. Sorry, but I know a few people who vehemently believe in the theory and they will argue about it incessantly.

 

[Hook326]

I'm almost 40 years old and until this moment when I Googled it, I also thought Eli Whitney was a black man.

I’m 41 and also thought this. Just discovered I was wrong by reading this thread!

 

[bellebud]

I'm 50 this year, and I thought Eli Whitney was black, I grew up in NY.

 

[bellebud]

Wait, maybe we all learned about Eli Whitney DURING black history month because his invention helped the slaves???

 

[DisneyHardin]

I’m 41 and also thought this. Just discovered I was wrong by reading this thread!

I'm glad I'm not the only one!!!

 

[Marchand63]

Nope, Google is my friend

 

[kimblebee]

I was always taught Eli Whitney was white.

Another one is the last line of ‘we are the champions’ by Queen. I have always thought the last line was ...’we are the champions....of the world’. Turns out, there’s no ‘of the world. That one shocked me.

 

[bellebud]

I was always taught Eli Whitney was white.

Another one is the last line of ‘we are the champions’ by Queen. I have always thought the last line was ...’we are the champions....of the world’. Turns out, there’s no ‘of the world. That one shocked me.

yep! definitely always thought 'of the world' was in there. I'm thinking it could have been just friends being drunk, belting out the song, and singing 'of the world' on our own and not even realizing it wasn't there.

 

[Domo]

Thanks to various operations in early life, my memory doesn't work so well. It's become a household joke... NO, YOU'RE FORGETTING AGAIN!

 

[Diznygrl]

I was always taught Eli Whitney was white.

Another one is the last line of ‘we are the champions’ by Queen. I have always thought the last line was ...’we are the champions....of the world’. Turns out, there’s no ‘of the world. That one shocked me.

Well, there actually IS a version with the “of the world” part in it...supposedly it’s not the mainstream version of the song but it does exist. I can’t remember where it’s from exactly, but I have the “of the world” version as an MP3.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

I repressed a memory once and created a new (less terrifying) one on top of it. Realized the truth some 10 years later.

I also had the Berestein/Berestain Bears thing.

 

[MomOfDisneyPrincess]

This is the first time I have ever heard of the Mandela effect, so it's interesting. However, I always knew Eli Whitney was white and I am 51, so I don't know what's going on with that. Also, I remember realizing that the Berenstein Bears were the Berenstain Bears one night when I was reading one of the books to my DD. I just assumed the spelling based on how I had heard it pronounced. Once I had a book in my hands, I clearly saw the correct spelling. So that's completely explainable for me.

 

[MomOfDisneyPrincess]

Well, there actually IS a version with the “of the world” part in it...supposedly it’s not the mainstream version of the song but it does exist. I can’t remember where it’s from exactly, but I have the “of the world” version as an MP3.

Have a listen. They are the Champions "of the world" multiple times in this version.

 

[NYCgrrl]

My memory works just fine but I have children who repress memories on a regular basis.
For instance the younger one called me yesterday to find out if he could "borrow" some money from me.
Undoubtedly he was clunked upside his head and forgot he still owes me money from December.
Orrrrrrrrrrr maybe he was just checking to see if Alzheimer's had set in yet. How felicitous of him.

 

[bellebud]

Have a listen. They are the Champions "of the world" multiple times in this version.

It's only the last "we are the champions" that people are talking about. There's no "of the world" at the very end of the song, and many people thought it was there.

 

[Disney Doll]

I have false memories about almost everything my wife says...

Honey what are you doing on the DIS?

 

[bellebud]

I repressed a memory once and created a new (less terrifying) one on top of it. Realized the truth some 10 years later.

I also had the Berestein/Berestain Bears thing.

I'm sorry something so horrible happened to you. Hugs.

 

[MomOfDisneyPrincess]

It's only the last "we are the champions" that people are talking about. There's no "of the world" at the very end of the song, and many people thought it was there.

I see. That type of thing could apply to many songs since the refrain is often repeated several times in the song and then changed up at least once. Not sure why this one "is a thing", but oh well.

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

There are multiple versions of "We are the champions" so this is not a good example. Some end in "of the world" and some don't - it just depends on what Freddie decided to sing on that particular recording.