While there is much psychological literature portraying memory as more constructive than we take it to be, belaboring this point does not explain the Mandela effect. The frailty and inaccuracy of human memory must be taken into account to properly understand the phenomenon, but this is only half of the equation.
The other half is bad logic... bad critical thinking. Let's examine a popular example of the Mandela effect: The Berenstain Bears. When one discovers that the spelling of the authors' name printed on books does not line up with the spelling that is remembered by himself and his friends, he finds himself looking for an explanation of why this is so. Here are two competing conclusions:
1. "Human memory is not a literal reproduction of the past, but instead relies on constructive processes that are sometimes prone to error and distortion." (quoted from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3341652/). Therefore, in view of all the scientific data which have been gathered a plausible explanation would be that those who remember the "-stein" spelling of the Authors' name have misremembered.
or
2. Human memory is trustworthy. If there are incongruencies between human memories and the observable universe, the observable universe is wrong. In order to explain how the universe could be wrong, I have a theory about mass human traversal through different realities.
Occam's razor is a VERY handy tool. Using it, one can cut away one of these options with no effort whatsoever.
So what is the Mandela effect?
A lapse in logic.
The other half is bad logic... bad critical thinking. Let's examine a popular example of the Mandela effect: The Berenstain Bears. When one discovers that the spelling of the authors' name printed on books does not line up with the spelling that is remembered by himself and his friends, he finds himself looking for an explanation of why this is so. Here are two competing conclusions:
1. "Human memory is not a literal reproduction of the past, but instead relies on constructive processes that are sometimes prone to error and distortion." (quoted from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3341652/). Therefore, in view of all the scientific data which have been gathered a plausible explanation would be that those who remember the "-stein" spelling of the Authors' name have misremembered.
or
2. Human memory is trustworthy. If there are incongruencies between human memories and the observable universe, the observable universe is wrong. In order to explain how the universe could be wrong, I have a theory about mass human traversal through different realities.
Occam's razor is a VERY handy tool. Using it, one can cut away one of these options with no effort whatsoever.
So what is the Mandela effect?
A lapse in logic.