• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

The Mandela Effect: False Memory

I've had my first 'Mandela' effect experience today. Nothing major, but still a bit unsettling.

I was in the garden potting up and planting out whilst listening to the radio with the glamorous Mr J, Radio 2 and the cheesy Shania Twain song "That Don't* Impress Me Much" [1998] was played. Since this tune was a hit before he lived here I told him about the funny-ish music video, with all the characters of a boffiny-nerdy-rocket scientist, a preening Brad Pitt-alike, and a smarmy guy in a shiny convertible before she settles on being impressed by a man who's a rugged down-home cowboy type.

After dinner tonight and a good documentary about the Anglo Saxons and Cornwall (quite a good one, BBC 4) I flicked over to the Youtube app on the TV, to show him the funny(ish) music video. I found the video, and it's just not what I remember.

Either I've conflated it with something else entirely - or in an alternate 1998 a different version was recorded. The outfit was the same but the rest of it was less slick/professional and I'm not sure I remember it being filmed outdoors.

(Sorry for inflicting this on you all)


*It really should be called "That Doesn't Impress Me Much" but I'm letting that go, for the time being.
 
I've had my first 'Mandela' effect experience today. Nothing major, but still a bit unsettling.

I was in the garden potting up and planting out whilst listening to the radio with the glamorous Mr J, Radio 2 and the cheesy Shania Twain song "That Don't* Impress Me Much" [1998] was played. Since this tune was a hit before he lived here I told him about the funny-ish music video, with all the characters of a boffiny-nerdy-rocket scientist, a preening Brad Pitt-alike, and a smarmy guy in a shiny convertible before she settles on being impressed by a man who's a rugged down-home cowboy type.

After dinner tonight and a good documentary about the Anglo Saxons and Cornwall (quite a good one, BBC 4) I flicked over to the Youtube app on the TV, to show him the funny(ish) music video. I found the video, and it's just not what I remember.

Either I've conflated it with something else entirely - or in an alternate 1998 a different version was recorded. The outfit was the same but the rest of it was less slick/professional and I'm not sure I remember it being filmed outdoors.

(Sorry for inflicting this on you all)


*It really should be called "That Doesn't Impress Me Much" but I'm letting that go, for the time being.
Two versions of the song was made, in country and country pop. This is the "country pop version" with music video which was very popular on MTV back in the day.

This is the country version:
 
Last edited:
My own Mandela Effect concerns the British presenter Cherry Healey, when I first saw her on TV years ago, I remember her to have a very pockmarked face from acne, like orange peel, so much that I thought, good for her for not letting it hold her back in being a presenter, now when I recently saw her on TV I was amazed to see she has perfect skin.
 
Some time back, I was looking to buy a new guitar and duly had a look online for recommendations.

So, typed in, 'accoustic guitar best buy'.

I was puzzled there weren't more responses.

Nonetheless, made use of what was available and continued searching.

It was only later I noticed a Google message, 'did you mean acoustic?'

Why would I?

Followed this up anyway and suddenly a flood of new information.

What's that all about? I've been playing guitar for over 30 years and think I know how to spell the word correctly, thank you very much.

Eventually, merely to confirm said fact, I checked.

No... that's not right... can't be possible...it most definitely is spelled with two, adjoining c's... always had been and I stubbornly refused to accept otherwise.

Aside from anything else, it just doesn't look right...

'accoustic guitar' - yes

'acoustic guitar' - plainly no.

It wasn't until came across an online copy of, 'Acoustic Guitar' magazine, that I finally accepted.

Could not believe I was mistaken, would have wagered my life on it!
 
Some time back, I was looking to buy a new guitar and duly had a look online for recommendations.

So, typed in, 'accoustic guitar best buy'.

I was puzzled there weren't more responses.

Nonetheless, made use of what was available and continued searching.

It was only later I noticed a Google message, 'did you mean acoustic?'

Why would I?

Followed this up anyway and suddenly a flood of new information.

What's that all about? I've been playing guitar for over 30 years and think I know how to spell the word correctly, thank you very much.

Eventually, merely to confirm said fact, I checked.

No... that's not right... can't be possible...it most definitely is spelled with two, adjoining c's... always had been and I stubbornly refused to accept otherwise.

Aside from anything else, it just doesn't look right...

'accoustic guitar' - yes

'acoustic guitar' - plainly no.

It wasn't until came across an online copy of, 'Acoustic Guitar' magazine, that I finally accepted.

Could not believe I was mistaken, would have wagered my life on it!
The Dumbtionary, for correcting dumb spellings of words, says it is acoustic.
 
Last edited:
It probably seems natural and familiar to have two C's because of words like accounting, accountancy, accoutrements.

The combination of A with cou has an extra c between them in every word EXCEPT acoustic. So it's not illogical to have always misread it/presumed the spelling
 
Not to be confused with a coo stick, which is what a Scottish farmer uses to guide his herd of coos.

These fellows are Bavarian so they probably call them Cowslappenrumpenguidensticken or something.

bavarian-farmers-24258137.jpg
 
I've just experienced one from this very board. I was going to reply to AntonyJoolz and then I realised I've been misreading your name for presumably 4.5 years. And to add insult to injury you have the label 'Captainess' so it's likely you're not even a bloke. I do apologise. Maybe I need to get stronger glasses. But it goes to show there's nothing like seeing what you expect to see, once you've formed an idea.

sorry
 
I've just experienced one from this very board. I was going to reply to AntonyJoolz and then I realised I've been misreading your name for presumably 4.5 years. And to add insult to injury you have the label 'Captainess' so it's likely you're not even a bloke. I do apologise. Maybe I need to get stronger glasses. But it goes to show there's nothing like seeing what you expect to see, once you've formed an idea.

sorry

Eeeek! I also read it as Antony! We've obviously slipped into another universe.
 
Came across this on Reddit.
AtomicWolf425

6 points·1 year ago

This is super late, I'm sorry, but I had a ridiculous Mandela effect moment about that about a year ago. I was super sure that the baby was never found. Apparently the baby's body was found. My mind was blown. I distinctly remember it being a running gag on comedy shows where people would claim to be the Lindberg baby. It still freaks me out when I think about it

Funnily enough, I had the exact same memory, including the running gag about the Lindberg baby.
 
I've just experienced one from this very board. I was going to reply to AntonyJoolz and then I realised I've been misreading your name for presumably 4.5 years. And to add insult to injury you have the label 'Captainess' so it's likely you're not even a bloke. I do apologise. Maybe I need to get stronger glasses. But it goes to show there's nothing like seeing what you expect to see, once you've formed an idea.

sorry

Me too. I know it says Anony but I read it as Antony.

Also Mythopokia.
Again I know that it's not right but my brain can't get round Mythopika. Mythypoeka. Mythopoeika.

Gah! Sorry guys.
 
Me too. I know it says Anony but I read it as Antony.

Also Mythopokia.
Again I know that it's not right but my brain can't get round Mythopika. Mythypoeka. Mythopoeika.

Gah! Sorry guys.
:rollingw: :rollingw: :rollingw:
 
i was good at geography at school. i have a big world map on my wall at work. I've always been interested in different countries.

Where on earth did Liberia come from? Never heard of it until about a month ago. Read lots about it since of course but as far as i'm concerned its appeared from no where.

Best personal example i can think of.
 
i was good at geography at school. i have a big world map on my wall at work. I've always been interested in different countries.

Where on earth did Liberia come from? Never heard of it until about a month ago. Read lots about it since of course but as far as i'm concerned its appeared from no where.

Best personal example i can think of.
Liberia used to be best-known as a place where ships could be registered, so they appeared to have the largest shipping fleet on Earth.
No idea why - it might be a tax dodge.

Shipping flag of convenience
Due to its status as a flag of convenience, Liberia has the second-largest maritime registry in the world behind Panama. It has 3,500 vessels registered under its flag, accounting for 11% of ships worldwide.
 
i was good at geography at school. i have a big world map on my wall at work. I've always been interested in different countries.

Where on earth did Liberia come from? Never heard of it until about a month ago. Read lots about it since of course but as far as i'm concerned its appeared from no where.

Best personal example i can think of.
I think Liberia once was a nation former United States slaves migrated to after being set free. Notice the similarities of the USA and Liberia flags.
I've heard about it since geography lessons in primary school in the 70s.
 
yep like i said ive read up about it since. an intetesting place

it just felt to me that the country had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. i felt ignorant in never noticing it before.

unles....
 
I think Liberia once was a nation former United States slaves migrated to after being set free. Notice the similarities of the USA and Liberia flags.
I've heard about it since geography lessons in primary school in the 70s.
Yup - the late 1860's after the ACW. Liberia was a sincerely meant, if somewhat patronising, attempt to resolve the "negro problem", the idea that after the end of slavery, with it growing really clear that liberated slaves were in for a hard time from their resentful former owners, and with the North realising that it needed to find jobs for a LOT of demobilised (white) soldiers or there'd be unrest ( a feeling that white men came first for resettling after demobilisation and not being sure if there'd be jobs for them, let alone liberated slaves), the idea came about to purchase, or claim, land in Africa and to "encourage" freed slaves to return Home - ie, to Africa, as, hey, let's be reasonable, the reason for their being in the USA was over and done with, there's no future for these people here any more.... (Some more reactionary thinkers suggested that if every other world power was scrambling to seize a colonial empire in Africa, it would do no harm for the USA to grab a slice)
 
And more on the Mandela Effect, from my Facebook page:

Having been re-establishing contact with people I knew at university, or finding out more about people I knew at uni, who now number things like tenured academics, a member of parliament, well-placed background wonks in the political process, BBC journalists, national newspaper and magazine journalists and writers, senior bloody lawyers, company directors, PR people, executives in public and private industry, two ministers of religion...

Just wondering if my memory is screwing up. I was very confident that in I think 1985-86, I did a course module, I think in semiotics, which lasted for ten weeks, and a fellow student on this course was a pleasant and softly-spoken Japanese guy called Kazuo Ishiguru. (who went on to write a book or two). But looking at his bio, he was all done and dusted at UEA Norwich by 1982, having got his MA there. Maybe he stayed on in Norwich as part of the wider academic community there and just did the odd elective course in things that took his fancy, that's not un-known. Either that or it was some other Japanese bloke on that course, and my memory has conflated them. But I do clearly remember sharing a classroom with a Japanese chap whose name was pronounced Kashi, or Kashio....

Loads of high-flyers in my time at uni. (David Sutton was there too - he started in the same year as me although our paths barely crossed)
... and then there's me.
Fuck.
1592237506142.png
 
Last edited:
Oh, the Shania Twain thing, about the bloke who likes to kiss his carpet knife - (why is she turning him down when, if she's clever, she can get her house recarpeted by somebody else for free?)

Sure I've brought this up before, but just in case this is a Mandela thing too ansd I only think I've raised this before, I'll raise my own musical "Huh?" here. Sometime around 2000, I bought what i thought was a Kate Bush Greatest Hits CD to replace my long-lost singles (got pinched in a house move). Everything was there, exactly as I recall them from the 1970's/80's single releases. No issues. But Wuthering Heights, the Kate Bush single. The version on the Greatest Hits CD was not as I remembered it. Not at all. The mix was wrong, and that glorious soaring guitar solo at the end was, well, watery, tinny, and with overdubbed vocals over the top of it. I was dissappointed, and disorientated; rationalising it by thinking "Well, it's fifteen years since I last heard this. Maybe it was always this way and my memory's wrong. After all, everything else on this CD is pretty much exactly as it was when it was in the charts."

Somebody told me - and unless Mandela is at work, might have been on this forum - that the version on the CD is a remix of the song done exactly as Kate Bush herself wanted it (and I'd been cussing record producers tasked with transferring vinyl to CD, who can't leave well alone and want to "improve" things, having got their paws on the master tapes.)

But... ah well, this is Wuthering Heights as God intended it to be.


And this is the remix which... sorry, Kate. Prefer the original.

 
Last edited:
And more on the Mandela Effect, from my Facebook page:

Having been re-establishing contact with people I knew at university, or finding out more about people I knew at uni, who now number things like tenured academics, a member of parliament, well-placed background wonks in the political process, BBC journalists, national newspaper and magazine journalists and writers, senior bloody lawyers, company directors, PR people, executives in public and private industry, two ministers of religion...

Just wondering if my memory is screwing up. I was very confident that in I think 1985-86, I did a course module, I think in semiotics, which lasted for ten weeks, and a fellow student on this course was a pleasant and softly-spoken Japanese guy called Kazuo Ishiguru. (who went on to write a book or two). But looking at his bio, he was all done and dusted at UEA Norwich by 1982, having got his MA there. Maybe he stayed on in Norwich as part of the wider academic community there and just did the odd elective course in things that took his fancy, that's not un-known. Either that or it was some other Japanese bloke on that course, and my memory has conflated them. But I do clearly remember sharing a classroom with a Japanese chap whose name was pronounced Kashi, or Kashio....

Loads of high-flyers in my time at uni. (David Sutton was there too - he started in the same year as me although our paths barely crossed)
... and then there's me.
Fuck.
View attachment 27280
I have a similar trajectory, so you're in good company.
 
And more on the Mandela Effect, from my Facebook page:

Having been re-establishing contact with people I knew at university, or finding out more about people I knew at uni, who now number things like tenured academics, a member of parliament, well-placed background wonks in the political process, BBC journalists, national newspaper and magazine journalists and writers, senior bloody lawyers, company directors, PR people, executives in public and private industry, two ministers of religion...

Just wondering if my memory is screwing up. I was very confident that in I think 1985-86, I did a course module, I think in semiotics, which lasted for ten weeks, and a fellow student on this course was a pleasant and softly-spoken Japanese guy called Kazuo Ishiguru. (who went on to write a book or two). But looking at his bio, he was all done and dusted at UEA Norwich by 1982, having got his MA there. Maybe he stayed on in Norwich as part of the wider academic community there and just did the odd elective course in things that took his fancy, that's not un-known. Either that or it was some other Japanese bloke on that course, and my memory has conflated them. But I do clearly remember sharing a classroom with a Japanese chap whose name was pronounced Kashi, or Kashio....

Loads of high-flyers in my time at uni. (David Sutton was there too - he started in the same year as me although our paths barely crossed)
... and then there's me.
Fuck.
View attachment 27280
AgProv, I think my trajectory is like yours – maybe it's a UEA thing. My contemporaries from my time there include a professor in Hong Kong, an academic etc. I do have a job that some people would kill for, but it's not what you'd call well paid. Though it is great for free cycling kit!

When were you at UEA? I was there from 81-85 studying history in EUR (I took a year off after my second year). I was known by middle name Fred and had very long hair and a very extravagant wardrobe – leather cowboy hat, silk trousers, suede waistcoats, wing collar, silk bow tie. Oh yes! I'm now known by my first name and have virtually no hair, another thing that changes over time. I can't believe that I'm approaching retirement age either, and that scares the bejesus out of me.

And I didn't realise Ishiguro had won the Nobel Prize, and I'm normally pretty up with that sort of thing. Probably just age rather than the Mandela effect! I think it's fair to say the boy done well for himself after UEA...
 
I was 1984-88 in EAS (linguistics), spent all but a few weeks living on Fifers Lane, also took a year off when things started getting "uggh". We would have overlapped, Fred, in 84 - 85
 
Last edited:
I was UEA as well, early 90s. Is this a cluster?! (maybe it's similar to the statistic about someone sharing your birthday in a surprisingly small group I guess). Well its motto is 'do different' so that fits those with a fortean bent :)
 
I was UEA as well, early 90s. Is this a cluster?! (maybe it's similar to the statistic about someone sharing your birthday in a surprisingly small group I guess). Well its motto is 'do different' so that fits those with a fortean bent :)
Well, for those of us who attended university in the 1990's or before, there really were only 40 universities to pick from. Assuming above-average intelligence in this group and that the typical (British born and raised) member of FF is perhaps more than less likely to have had a university level education... we're probably the sub-set who went to one out of those forty institutions and we're identifying ourselves to each other. (I guess identifying ourselves by our Clark Kent names would be frowned upon in open forum...) Wondering if the sub-set of those who went to the University of Kent would have as many representatives, or Keele, or Bradford, or Chester, or wherever.

Still - Do different. Do Fortean?
 
I take your point. I'm not being funny but weirdly, I went to one of those as well. Which kind of shows how the maths must make it more likely than unlikely in the end! Evidently I wasn't doing maths :)
 
Back
Top