Nothing 'Spooky' IS Going On, Most Mandela Effects Are Easily Explained: Human-Memory Tendency to Merge Similarities, Over Time :)

I may not have many skills, but one thing I've got is super memory.  Thus, I actually remember these according to reality VS. public-perception memory :) For example, I heard people say Mandela died in prison years ago, but knew they'd confused Nelson Mandela with Stephen Biko (Both South-African anti-apartheid activists in the 70s/80s who went to prison, only Biko died there).  I was iffy on a couple, but my education taught me how the human brain perceives info, categorizes it, and remembers it (often in a biased manner).

Based on my education, my theory as to what is really going on with the "Mandela effect" isn't anything "spooky" at all - it's simply a very natural, efficient way the human brain has evolved to works in order to create more "memory space" for new information :)
We humans identify and categorize things immediately -  but we do so in a biased manner, based on details we believe are the important ones.

However -  over time - we "make more memory room" by essentially getting rid of subcategories of more detail by merging 2 similarities into main categories.

Thus, you have the similar details of stories of Mandela and Biko merged into one, or Mr. Peanut Planter's Guy with monocle VS. The Monopoly Guy without monocle.

I admit, I always thought the Monopoly guy had a monocle, too - but the fact is, he doesn't and never has.

However, there's nothing spooky about it -  my theory is - just how our brains and memories work over time :)

And the reason we all think the Monopoly guy had a monocle is because Planter's "Mr. Peanut" and "Mr. Monopoly"- both having similar cartoon-style and similar features - hit peak popularity around the same time (1930s).

Thus, our memories have simply merged the two characters over time based on similar features that hit peak popularity around a similar time period - get it?

Basically, think of your brain being like a PC or your smart phone, saying: "You rarely use this app, so maybe you don't need it - let me defrag it and remove some files, and transfer it into archives."

The problem is, our brains are biased on what it chooses as important data.

Thus, not all the data details transfer correctly, sometimes a files even corrupt, or it's difficult to find that archived data later on - and wham, you've got a Mandela effect.

So, nothing spooky going on, just our brains imperfectly attempting to be more efficient so as to "accept new apps" - fascinating, isn't it?

Having said all that, there is one of these - and only one of these - that I have trouble explaining myself.

Mark and I were to go kayaking today, but it's supposed to rain, so instead, we're having a Netflix binge-watching day (which are often my favorite days).

(If you're interested, currently, we're watching my husband's choice of "Black Spot," which after the first 5 minutes, I pronounced essentially the French version of Twin Peaks, though not as funny and the characters aren't nearly as likeable.  It's meh, mediocre, and I bet David Lynch is banging his head against the wall and wondering how he can sue them lol.)

Thus, I went on YouTube to look up a a full clip from Jimmy Fallon's original Lip Sync battle from years ago that apparently has been retired (the one with Stephen Merchant, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Jimmy)?

You know how you watch one video, then another, and you somehow end up in strange places, having no idea how you got there? lol

That's how this happened :)

Anyway, I watched a new Mandela Effect video, all BS and easily explained - with the exception of one, that I admit, had me scratching my head (as apparently it did other people) - because it's not as easily explained as "memory merging."

Now, because of my memory, I can remember dates, times, and nearly verbatim conversations (unless super stressed or distracted), which is why I aced history classes, and I consider myself a fairly strong history buff, particularly American history.

This "effect" is regarding WWI.

Mark asked me, "When did WW1 begin?"

I shot back "1914, but the US didn't enter officially enter until ... 1916? No, 1917, I think?"

Verified.

Which is why this next one is the only one of these that has me scratching my head - because his one actually isn't the case of our memories merging 2 similarities over time.,

So, we all knew that Pearl Harbor got us into WWII, right?

But I had always been under the impression that nothing really got us into WWI, except increasing pressure from our allies (the whole war being political and started by the assassination of Austria's Archduke Ferdinand to begin with).

So, you think I would remember - or at some point, I would've been taught in American history - that there was a massive terrorist explosion (supposedly performed by German spies) in New York City in 1916 that partially destroyed the Statue of Liberty, and was responsible for not only the Espionage Act of 1917 and the creation of the first US domestic terrorism agencies,  but the biggest reason why we entered the war - and it was called Black Tom Island.

I honest to God never heard of this event until today?

It doesn't freak me out or anything, but I am having trouble explaining why most of us don't remember this/weren't taught this in US history?

In fact, one of the commenters claimed to be a HS American-History teacher, but had never heard of this event either - but I think it sent him into an existential crisis! lol

Because this one, you can't explain away by merging memories of two similarities over time - so how to explain it?

(I don't watch these because I believe in Mandela effect, but because I find the way the human brain works, and false-public memory aspect, fascinating.)


And there you have it - that is the only "Mandela Effect" that stumps me and I can't easily explain by the way human memory works over time (which is the aspect that I personally find fascinating about these) :)

PS 

Mark reasoned: "Maybe the reason we didn't know is because of lack of national communication, lack of media in general, which had improved by WWII.  People relied on local newspapers.  By the 1930s, we received more national news, and movies had newsreel trailers before movies and at intermissions, whereas they didn't in WWI?"

Me:  "Well, that sounds plausible - but it doesn't explain why I know that the Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, without even looking it up (which I knew before the movie, mind you, because my grandparents saved the local newspaper clipping )  - which occurred 4 years before Black Tom Island?"

"You mean to tell me this major terrorist event on US soil by the Germans, that essentially obliterated from existence a tiny island in NY Harbor and partially damaged the Statue of Liberty - and was essentially the 9/11 of their day and a major impetus for our entrance into WWI - most of us have never even heard about this event and were never taught about it in school, but even local newspapers published the Titanic and WWI events?"

"So there goes that theory, too.  Even my country-Kentuckian grandparents knew about the Titanic from a saved newspaper clipping from 1912, but never mentioned Black Tom's Island, that just seems weird to me. lol." 

Mark: "Maybe the name of the island is controversial as knowledge about racism increased, so the education system glossed over the event due to the name of the island, in shame?"

Me:  "Hm, well, it appears tiny Black Tom's Island itself was essentially blown off the map with  the explosion, the remnants were almost immediately incorporated into Liberty Park - and we all know it wasn't due to racism - racism and racial segregation was standard, accepted practice in 1916, even in NYC.  People made no attempt to hide their racism in the 1910s."

"Plus supposedly Kaiser Germans were responsible, who were white, so? Could it be because they were white, and it happened on US soil -  it didn't fit the narrative about people of color versus whites?"

"Nah, that doesn't make sense, either -  because at the time, we were looking for justifications to get involved in the war, and anti-Kaiser/German propaganda was high.  So why wasn't this event more broadly used and popularly known as justification, as Pearl Harbor was for WWII?"

"Plus again, racism was standard, accepted practice in 1916, even in NYC. White people didn't NEED a political narrative to hide white crime because people were already conditioned to wrongfully assume people of color were up to no good and at fault, if left to their own volition, and therefore "needed" whites for that "benevolent white patriarchs" bullshit, even in NYC.  So even race theories are a stretch."

"So I gotta admit, this one's a stumper.  I'm sure there IS a more plausible explanation for why virtually no one remembers this being taught in American History than "alternative universe" theories or CIA-mind control (LOL) -  I just can't find it yet." 

Mark:  "Well, as far-fetched as it may sound, there are those who believe that with all these US-soil events, 9/11, Pearl Harbor, and maybe even Black Tom's Island, the US did it to themselves, to turn public sentiment towards war.  Because remember, up until Vietnam, war in the US was a money-maker.  Didn't Wilson want some big international co-op deal like the UN or something?

Me: "Oh my gosh, now, you may be onto something with that one.  Because Wilson had tried unsuccessfully for years to establish the League of Nations.  The LON was not accepted and established until 1920 - a little over a year after the war ended! :)"

"Wow, I really hate to even think like that, especially without any evidence - it feels I should next don a tinfoil hat, but unlike the others, that explanation at least makes sense, and the timing of the LON is odd -  and as I've always said, from Hillary to Trump, to Kavanaugh to Blasey-Ford - though we should always presume innocent until proven guilty, lack of evidence does NOT automatically mean innocence, either - so that possibility cannot be excluded, like the others on the table."

*I need to add, here, that by that I do NOT mean we need to assume every accusation made contains any truth at all, especially when it comes to politics, and trying to prove those false is often like trying to prove someone murdered a unicorn - which you can't - because you have to prove the existence of unicorn in the first place lol.
I'm just saying that when it comes to an actual crime, just because no evidence has been found doesn't mean the crime didn't happen or a suspect is innocent.  That doesn't make the suspect guilty OR innocent actually - it means there's not enough evidence - period.

(i.e., a body or murder weapon is never found, but the person was never seen again. A woman was raped but was afraid to tell anyone until years later when all evidence is gone, etc.)

But in this case, unlike a unicorn, we DO have have evidence this major world event existed in the first place - but what's missing is why this major world event has been virtually ignored in American History - but all we have is a timeline of circumstantial evidence, which isn't true evidence at all - it proves nothing.

Mark: "Yeah, and remember, I'm a former Army ranger.  I know for fact, shit gets covered up, based on personal experience - and it happens under every US president.  People are extraordinarily stupid, if they think Trump isn't the worst liar/cover-upping con of them all.  They've all seen him contradict himself, lie, and try to hide stuff (including his tax returns, college records, military records, thwart investigations which no innocent man would do), right in front of their faces, all day, every day, since day one, and they still blindly trust the man, it makes no sense.  We all saw/heard the video of Trump saying, "I could shoot someone on 5th Avenue and not lose support," and they cheered it on, it's unbelievable that that's okay with people!  People are stupid sheep, blinded by wanting to believe something so badly, they can't see the forest for the trees."

So, has my husband solved this mystery of why none of us were taught about the terrorist explosion of Black Tom's Island essentially being responsible for pulling us into WWI?

*shrugs*

(And yeah, you probably don't want to play Trivial Pursuit with me.  I'm a font of useless skills and useless information such as dates, times, events, and conversations lol.)