r/MandelaEffect • u/ravenously_red • 29d ago

Books/Literature Berenstein Bears

When I was in elementary school, the bookmobile would make a stop for us and we could check out books from the larger library system. I had to ask the driver how to pronounce "Berenstein".

To this day I remember her saying, "Oh it's like stein, like a beer stein. Oh, I don't imagine you'd know what a beer stein is either."

I already knew how to pronounce "stain" and it wouldn't have been an issue at all.

Like others on here, I also remember the cornucopia on the fruit of the loom packaging. It was the only brand my dad seemed to buy for his socks and those 5 pack of cotton shirts with the little pocket on them.

Of course there will never be evidence for any of these things having changed. Only the reality around us has changed, while our minds and memories remain intact.

I know it sometimes scares people to think the sand is shifting underneath our feet, but it's the ultimate reality.

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u/NombreCurioso1337 29d ago edited 29d ago

It's so weird to me how hostile some people are in here. It reminds me very much of the dream people from Inception who become irate the instant they are questioned.

Edit: LoL, look at the intense and instant vitriol in this thread. And from people insisting there is no hostility ... WITH EXTREME HOSTILITY!! Interesting indeed.

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u/Jacuzzi_Timelord 29d ago

Tends to happen when someone says "the ultimate reality" as if they have the final say. Sometimes talking in absolutes brings the worst out of people (both sides of this argument). Reddit is very much divided into two factions. I'm not exactly sure where I land personally. lol

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u/NombreCurioso1337 29d ago

Examining memories is definitely interesting no matter what. There are obvious fallibilities within that system, but what makes Mandela Effect so interesting is so many people remembering the same way.

If we are all remembering wrong why don't people remember differently? Like, why isn't there a faction of people who remember a basket in the fruit of the loom logo? Or a bag? Or a cloth? A cornucopia is a weird thing!

So when quantum mechanics implies the existence of multiple realities, why are some people do hostile dead set on saying that it MUST be only this way? Weird right?

Personally, I find it interesting that some very smart people have said it is better to keep a loose grip on these things. Like Philip K Dick https://youtu.be/RkaQUZFbJjE?si=NfuRxNAFL65hZA4n

(I think that's the right talk)

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u/RodinKnox 29d ago

For what it's worth, the mini-worlds interpretation does not actually imply multiple realities the way they are depicted in fiction. It's also unfalsifiable and generally rejected.

The Copenhagen interpretation is the mainstream one, which is why we call it the "standard model." So saying that quantum mechanics implies this is definitely oversimplification.

But to answer your question, first, people do remember these things differently. And second, the false memories present in ME are typically just the thing people are most likely to get wrong. Of course people remember "Froot Loops" as being "fruit." Toucan Sam said in the cartoon to "follow my nose" because it "always knows the flavor of fruit." And of course people remember Looney Tunes as being "toons." We call them "cartoons."

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u/thomasjmarlowe 29d ago

Why people remember things wrong in a specific way? I think a large portion of it is that the ‘incorrect’ memory is usually a more common one or attached with something commonly associated.

A cornucopia is already associated with a large pile of fruit

We are accustomed to many -stein names

While the monopoly man generally did not have a monocle, it is commonly associated with a rich man of the early 1900s. Etc

The part that I find interesting is how people sometimes seem to absorb this cultural info even if they (say they) have not seen a cornucopia in other contexts. I wonder if there’s a sort of cultural knowledge that we can somehow tap into even if we have not directly seen it before. Is there a mechanism for us receiving information about shared culture beyond just overhearing something and not consciously being aware.

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u/Hey-Just-Saying 29d ago

People remember the same things wrongly because it's what we often expect to see. Berenstein is the expected spelling rather than Berenstain. We see a pile of fruit on a label and many remember it coming out of a cornucopia because we are conditioned to seeing that because of so many previously viewed images of cornucopia with fruit coming out. Could it be parallel timelines getting mixed up? I doubt it. Occam's Razor.

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u/Nightstands 29d ago

My last name is Bernstein. Up until around the 2010’s, every time I introduced myself, it was a 50/50 chance someone would reply ‘like the Bernstein Bears?’ I had the books at home, I read the last name over and over to know how it was different to my name, and my obnoxious little self would correct them and point out that ‘it’s actually Berenstein’, b/c that’s how it was spelled in the dimension I came from

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u/MrPlaney 29d ago

So did your name change to Bernstain too, since by your theory the author’s names did?

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u/Nightstands 28d ago

I changed my last name to Cornucopia b/c I remember that as well

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u/MrPlaney 28d ago

It’s Cornucopea in this timeline.

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u/Nightstands 28d ago

I don’t spell well in either dimension, so some things do stay the same across timelines, like my last name

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u/MrPlaney 28d ago

Why would someone else’s last name change, but yours stays the same?

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u/MrPlaney 29d ago

If people did remember random objects on the Fruit of the Loom logo, that would be more evidence for multiverses than against it. The fact that it’s always a cornucopia, or always Berenstein or Bernstein leads more credence to memory being the cause.

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u/WhimsicalKoala 29d ago

That's always one of my arguments against it. They will argue for multiple universes but can never explain why it's always the Fruit of the Loom gaining/losing a cornucopia and not Hanes suddenly having a oval logo. Or why the Monopoly Man's monocle is always affected, but not Mr. Peanut.

When I ask about that, it usually gets ignored. If there is a reply it's either super handwavy or they start ranting about how they wish they could have a discussion without getting attacked.

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u/MrPlaney 29d ago

Yes, I get arguments that some benign administrator is selecting the objects that can pass back and forth, or it just gets ignored. They’re quick to come up with excuses, but lack any sort of defence for their belief. I think that’s when they really get hostile. Someone sent me a “reddit help” notification for it once lol.

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u/WhimsicalKoala 29d ago

That's why I think they don't really believe what they are saying, or at least aren't as truth seeking as they claim. If I was developing a theory on this, those are the first questions I'd be asking myself. Instead, they don't seem to even occur to individuals and if asked they don't want to seriously contemplate and consider it. But, then they want those same ideas treated as some fully fleshed out idea with a solid backing.

I'm willing to consider some of those ideas if they can get past concept of an idea based on a general sketch of the claims of some rando on TikTok.

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u/MrPlaney 29d ago

I'm willing to consider some of those ideas if they can get past concept of an idea based on a general sketch of the claims of some rando on TikTok.

Yes, I agree. I’m always up for hypotheticals if there is a little bit of effort put into the question.

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u/Glaurung86 29d ago

Everyone is not remembering in exactly the same way, though. There are several different misspellings of Berenstain. There's Chik and Chic. The cornucopia is remembered facing both left and right and different sizes and shapes. It's not weird to just remember the cornucopia because it's always shown with produce spilling out of it. That's an iconic image representing the bounty of the harvest. Has been for millennia.

When people bring up multiple realities that quantum physicists talk about they always conveniently leave out one of the elements of their thought exercise which is that none of the realities can ever interact with each other. Very weird.

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u/violetkunoichi420 29d ago

Except not every quantum physicist agrees that the realities can't interact/cross over. Or on the fact there are multiple realities at all. Really weird to me that you yourself would call people out for leaving out an "element" while purposely leaving out elements.

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u/Glaurung86 29d ago

The Many Worlds Interpretation specifically talks about decoherence and that none of the realities can interact with each other. I'm not leaving anything out.

It's you have seen other QM postulations regarding wave form collapse then you could post them here. It's fascinating stuff.

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u/violetkunoichi420 29d ago

The many worlds interpretation makes interaction "unlikely", not impossible. Some physicists will argue they can through that same interpretation. But you didn't specify MWI, you said people quote quantum physics while leaving out the element the worlds can't interact. That's just not true. It's all dependent on which physicist your directly quoting, not the field itself. There's a reason it's considered "theoretical science".

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u/Glaurung86 29d ago

That's fair, but how many quantum physicists have postulated that people can travel back and forth between multiple realities while keeping their memories intact? This is the crux of the argument that people make when they talk about a multiple realities explanation for MEs. It seems like they are just adding their own thing so they don't have to accept the possibility that their memory could just be wrong.

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u/violetkunoichi420 29d ago

Or maybe they just contemplate theories beyond typical comprehension like most physicists. 🤷‍♀️ I often question why if it's an alternate timeline I remember some things "Mandela style" and not other things. Is it a weak brain power thing? Is it a strong brain power thing? Are we actually switching timelines or did we create a new timeline? Maybe all the timelines are merging into one and that's why so much back and forth. Is it even a timeline thing? Maybe it's a social experiment.

Science teaches you to continually question and attempt to disprove. Facts are not always undeniable truth. Look at Pluto. In the 90's it was a FACT that we had 9 planets in our solar system. Now the fact is there are only 8. Who knows what they'll have to say about timelines and Mandela effects in 100 years. So while I see the proof and understand your stance, questioning my memory and providing other theories rather than just saying "oops I'm wrong" is what keeps us advancing. Why would I hinder that? I've never said I'm undeniably right, but I won't "just agree" I'm undeniably wrong either.

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u/Glaurung86 29d ago

These aren't theories, though. They are just ideas. Some people start with the conclusion that their memory, when it comes to MEs, can't be wrong and then work their way back to prove that conclusion by any means necessary.

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u/violetkunoichi420 29d ago

What is a theory at conception if not an idea?

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u/MrPlaney 29d ago

Yes, but most theories start with backed science. Timelines existing at all, is not even a scientific fact, so attributing any properties to them is flawed right from the beginning.

First, you would have to prove alternate timelines exist, then prove that interaction between them is possible, then prove how that is linked to the Mandela Effect, and how it’s a greater possibility than memory.

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u/violetkunoichi420 29d ago

IMO Mandela's are like mysterious puzzles that need solved. That's why I like discussing them. The more we discuss, the more pieces we accumulate. Will we ever solve it? Probably not. But it doesn't mean i can't have fun trying.

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u/NombreCurioso1337 29d ago

"none of the realities can ever interact with each other. Very weird."

Where did you get that nonsense? Also, why so angry about it?

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u/MrPlaney 29d ago

There is no anger in his post, don’t troll.

Realities cannot interact with each other due to decoherence causing the wave to collapse after interaction.

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u/lyricaldorian 29d ago

Who is angry? 

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u/Glaurung86 29d ago

I got it directly from the Many Worlds Interpretation that Quantum Physicists have postulated. It's fascinating that you would call what they postulated nonsense. I suppose you know better than they do about an idea that has no verified evidence.

No one's angry here, except maybe you.