Berenstein or Berenstain?
- Orli Feder
- Oct 26, 2016
- 2 min read
A new conspiracy theory suggests that we are living in an alternate universe.
You most likely remember reading or watching “The Berenstein Bears”. However, did you know that all along it has been spelled “Berenstain”? For most of us, this news is surprising since we’ve grown up knowing this delightful family of bears as the “Berenstein Bears”.
This phenomenon and many others are part of a conspiracy called the “Mandela Effect”. Basically, it's says that if there is a large population of people who all share a similar false memory of an important event or part of history, the phenomenon is occurring. The name comes from Nelson Mandela, who many people believe died in prison when in fact, he became the South African president after he got out of prison and died in 2013. Other examples include the popular TV show “Sex and the City” is often mistaken as being “Sex in the City” and the popular Star Wars quote “Luke, I am your father.” is quoted everywhere when the actual quote is “No, I am your father.”
Some people believe that people have slid into a parallel universe. For example, people who grew up knowing the “Berenstein Bears” slid to an alternate universe where it is spelled “Berenstain Bears”. The alternate universe is almost completely the same as the other one, with only minor differences.
Another theory is that we live in a virtual reality; somewhat like the”holodeck” in the Star Trek series. This one is not very widely believed because many people think of it as implausible.
The most widespread psychological and scientific theory, though not as imaginative as the others, is that the brain builds memories out of various bits and pieces of information on the fly as opposed to playing them back like a recording. Memories aren't pure. They can be distorted by any number of factors, including bias, association, imagination, and peer pressure. This means that if someone tells you that Nelson Mandela died in prison, the next time you think of it, you will remember what they told you and not the actual truth.
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