The Mandela effect: explained

By: G. Castilla

Okay, so let's cut to the chase here.
 Is the Mandela effect real? What actually is the “Mandela effect”?. I’ll start
off by asking you some simple, cult-classic questions.  

Did Darth Vader ever actually say “Luke, I am your father” in the Star Wars saga? Does the evil queen in Snow White actually ask her mirror: “Mirror, Mirror on the wall who’s the fairest of them all”? Does Pikachu have a black tail tip? In the song “We are the Champions” by Queen, does the band finish their popular hit off with “of the world”? 

The answers to all of these questions are simply: No. 
Then why do we remember information like that? These slight misunderstandings are referred to as being the results of the Mandela effect. It relates to a situation where we remember something different to what actually happened, however, we still feel as if our gut - our memory - is correct.

So, here is some backstory and valid information for you to really understand what this misterious fenomena is about and why is it relevant nowadays. First off, our brains inform us of information which we consider truthful, when in fact, it isn’t. This is because our brain’s are inable to wholly generate authentic thoughts and to completely retain memories. The effect is described as being a “collective of false memories”. The Mandela effect is named after the South African civil rights activist Nelson Mandela. This is because of the common misunderstanding related to Mandela, where various people remember he died in prison back in 1962, when he actually died due to a respiratory infection in 2013, already out of prison.  
This misinformation was first seen and acknowledged when self-proclaimed “paranormal consultant” Fiona Broome recollected memories of Nelson Mandela dying in prison in 1962. She even recalled news coverage of the event and his then wife making a speech about him and his death. It was then found that more people had the same recollections as her, and so this concept, this effect, was created.  
Scientists believe this is due to the unconscious manufacture of misunderstood memories, called confabulation. This condition is common in day to day life where false memories happen regularly, and people try to “fill in the gaps” of their memories with false ones. However, various conspiracy theorists affirm that the Mandela effect is proof - or an example of - the existence of alternative universes. 

In fact, Darth Vader actually says: “No, I am your father”, the evil queen says “magic mirror on the wall” (instead of “mirror mirror”), Pikachu’s tail does not have a black tip and “We are the Champions” does not finish with “… of the world”. 
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if you want to know more about this subject, I recommend searching on specialized websites and also on Youtube! (My tip is to search for "Shane Dawson's conspiracy theory" videos).