2 + 2 = 5
Mrunmayee Mainkar
B.Sc. SY 2024-28
Estimated reading time ~ 5 minutes
You know the famous dialogue from the 1937 Disney adaptation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves – “Mirror, mirror, on the wall”, right? Well, turns out, that isn’t the actual dialogue! The original dialogue is “Magic mirror on the wall”. Surprising, isn’t it! But don’t worry, you are not the only person to have remembered this differently. Many people make this error, and it’s actually a quite famous phenomenon known as the Mandela effect, which, in a nutshell, explains how many people misremember past details or events, which can be seen in a lot of media like movies, songs, and even in pop culture as well. As interesting as this phenomenon is, it can be kind of dicey in some ways.
The existence of this effect has quite a history. The term was coined by Fiona Broome, an American paranormal researcher, when she discovered that she and many other people were under the belief that the former South African president, Mr Nelson Mandela, had passed away in the 1980s. But here’s the catch – he had actually passed away in 2013! A difference of almost two decades between when they thought an event had occurred versus when it had actually occurred.
Another theory related to the same is the fuzzy-trace theory. It suggests that we remember information in two categories: verbatim and gist. For instance, if presented with a bunch of words, someone might remember a word from there, or a word which is not there, but related to those words, or which provides the person with their summary. Because of this difference, people might misremember past events and details.
However, while reading about this phenomenon, what came to my mind was a power-play thought, as in, how people could use this phenomenon to manipulate others as per their convenience. If this phenomenon is so powerful that it can make people remember deaths way before they actually happened, how difficult would it be for someone with power to convince people of other incidents, as and when favourable to that person?
While researching how the Mandela effect can be used in politics, I came across a concept which is apt to the subject – historical negationism. It is essentially spreading political propaganda by distorting historical facts (and sometimes bastardising a certain group of people or important historical figures and their actions) and manipulating the public in order to get support. Hilter’s regime is a famous example of this, where the Jewish community was specifically targeted. He used the humiliation Germany faced after the Treaty of Versailles, along with the devastating effects of the Great Depression, in order to gain mass support. He promised to make Germany independent, strong, and regain the lost territory . He created hope amongst the public, and he was well known for his charismatic speeches, powerful voice and eye-catching way of speaking by using hand gestures and controlling the tone of his voice. He provided a solution – eliminating Jews whom he deemed were the major problem of their society, and the existing anti-semitism and prejudices in Germany, or rather Europe, did not help.
The book 1984 is a wonderful literary example, in which historical negationism is highlighted wonderfully through totalitarianism, constant vigilance on thoughts and actions, and curbing certain rights.
What personally comes to my mind when I think of historical negationism is the lack of lessons being given about colonialism to British school-going children. Nothing can justify this portion of history not being taught properly to students there, given that such a huge community of immigrants is present in the UK, including a huge number of Indians. We hear so much about Indians facing racism there, and not teaching colonial history just adds salt to the wound.
The Mandela effect and many harsh social and political concepts go hand-in-hand.
Misremembering movie dialogues, logos, symbols, etc., might seem harmless, but it is dangerous when you consider how it can be used for manipulating people to get them on your side, you realise how its power can be harnessed. As seen in Hitler’s example, he used such manipulative tactics to make people side up with him and support the mass killing of 6 million Jews. In an age where it is as easy to spread false information or believe anything as it is to snap your fingers, critical thinking, research, and logic are of utmost importance.