Alternate Universe – or Bad Memory?

Occasionally, I drive down a road that I have been on hundreds, if not thousands of times, and I see something new… I see a building or a structure or a landmark that has magically visualized virtually overnight. When that happens I am immediately confused but later when I’ve had time to process it, I begin to wonder if it was just my bad memory, tunnel vision while driving (for me this is a rare thing … I am not known to actually stare straight ahead when driving – I like looking at everything) or something happened that we are now in another timeline. An alternate universe. Some people refer to it as the Mandela Effect – named after Nelson Mandela because about 50% of people that remember him, believe he died in a South African prison and the other 50% insist that he became president of South Africa. Oddly enough, I remember the man but I thought he became president and then died in prison! *For the record, Wikipedia has him as the first president:  https://g.co/kgs/qMLo5W

Personally I love the idea of an alternate universe. Just imagine how it would work when someone gets mad at you for something:  Other person, “hey I saw you take my lunch!”   Me, “no I didn’t. You must have been in another timeline.” Other person has confused look on their face as I walk away.

Could this concept explain all of the ‘he said, she said’ fights throughout history?

I sometimes go on wild-Google chases trying to find evidence of a dramatic cover-up/government conspiracy.  The one I’d really love to prove exists is the real name of the show Sex in the City. I don’t believe for a second that the title has always been Sex and the City (“and” instead of “in”).

When it comes down to it, I suspect the roadside pop-up buildings, etc are just a matter of not taking inventory of every single object as I had driven that road previously. The lack of inventory is probably a good thing anyway as doing so might have produced higher insurance rates for me.

What’s your vote?  Faulty memory redux or new universe?

Author: Bill Claman   11/14/2022      Blog #00006