I can't help but think the Mandela effect is an example.
Sincerely,
A person who grew up in apartheid South Africa
It's called the "Mandela" effect based on the ridiculous claim that some people think that Nelson Mandela died in prison. That's absurd since it was after he was in prison that he did his most famous acts like becoming president and ending apartheid. The number of people that think he died in prison has to be vanishingly few.
For someone that grew up in Apartheid South Africa I can't imagine how insulting this would be.
People use it as an excuse when they remember anything wrong, just look at the subreddit and these ridiculous claims: https://www.reddit.com/r/MandelaEffect/comments/xg5a8o/meet_...
JJ McCullough did a great video on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKujYkEmwWM&themeRefresh=1
But what isn’t plausible is the part you left out that’s talked about in the video? That some people explain the Mandela effect through pseudoscientific bullshit like alternative timelines merging. You also seem to conflate the ridiculousness of what some people collectively remember with the Mandela effect concept as a whole. It’s a bit like saying hypnosis as an idea is dumb because people do dumb things when hypnotised? I also don’t understand what is deeply offensive about people misremembering that Mandela died in prison? They’re not saying (or even remembering) that he was a bad person, probably the opposite, they’re just ignorant of history.
But having said all that I am perplexed by the OP comment: “I can’t help but think the Mandela effect is an example”. An example of what? Cracks in spacetime? Because yeah that’s dumb, though probably a joke.
Maybe it's just too early, but why would it be offensive? Flabbergasting, sure, but offensive?
I imagine if someone told me they thought the sky was red my jaw would drop, but I wouldn't be angry.
People that seriously believe Mandela died in prison isn’t offensive, but I doubt these exist in any significant number. People claiming that it’s even possible that you could believe that is offensive since it implies his most effective years and actions never happened.
I think that is reading into it too much. There are lots of other less offensive implications.
People are often unaware, uncritical, and misinformed. You can think this about a significant number of people while personally agreeing that Mendela had a large impact
Recently, though, I'm running into a weird one. In the last two months, I have encountered multiple incidents where people are either capitalizing "the Internet," or writing about why it's mainstream enough now that we don't need to capitalize "Internet."
In my timeline, no one, and I mean NO ONE, had been capitalizing "internet" for at least fifteen years, and it was only really old people who did for five. It looks ridiculous to me even to see it.
I can't account for this change by any normal means, and it's been really eerie!
(I’m one of those old heads that still capitalize it btw)
I misremember his dying in prison in 1993. In my false memory, he never became Prime Minister. His death inspired the movement that finally ended Apartheid, but he didn't do it himself. His death was interpreted as a kind of martyrdom for his cause, and as the deaths of martyrs often does, it evoked sympathy even in the hearts of people who disagreed with him, eventually leading to the end of Apartheid.
I was only 7 in 1993, so I'm more than willing to accept that I'm just misremembering completely. My geopolitical awareness in the 2nd grade was pitiful by the most generous interpretation. Perhaps I'm conflating lots of different pieces of other stories and mistakenly associating them with his name. My memory is generally quite reliable, in my experience, but it's a long way from foolproof. I do remember being genuinely surprised when he actually died, long before I heard of the "Mandela Effect," because I thought I could remember the lesson in 2nd grade when we learned of his death in prison.
I just wanted to mention it's a whole different set of memories, including his position and role in ending Apartheid, that I misremember, not just the circumstances of his death, and I would guess that's true of others as well.
At least in my mismemory, he was still heroic, and his life (and death) inspired the change he's remembered for now. I would hope not to insult anyone just because my memories of my ignorance as a small child don't match what actually happened.
He was President.
(but actually thanks for pointing that out, I corrected it)
I really fucking hate the "Mandela effect". It's a symptom of a much greater problem: people refusing to be wrong.
Now when someone can be shown clear evidence that their memory is in error, they can claim that fucking reality itself has been changed. Apparently the only thing that is rock solid, 100% sure is our own memory. That is sacrosanct. Can't question it. Our own memory is a 100% accurate recording of everything we've ever experienced and cannot be influenced by anything ever.
Except for all of the evidence that shows us the exact opposite.
So how about we all be humble enough to say, "Ah, guess I was wrong" from time to time.