Although the effect itself is real enough (that is, there are hundreds of thousands, and perhaps millions, of people around the globe who recall certain items or events being a particular way instead of how they are in actuality), the explanations for this that have been offered thus far are, in my opinion, just not very helpful or convincing.
The two main explanations are:
1. Confabulation. Millions of people are just misremembering, and they are doing so conveniently in the exact same way. When it comes to the spelling of a brand-name in particular, this seems plausible, because people will often spell words or names in a manner that seems intuitive. For example, that American brand 'J. C. Penney' looks as though it should be 'J. C. Penny', because 'Penny' is a girl's name that we are all familiar with. Everyone remembers the 'Monopoly Man' having a monocle, because he's wearing a tuxedo with a top hat, and carrying a cane, and men who used to dress this way quite often had monocles as well.
However, it doesn't account for historical changes. Who here remembers something called the Black Tom explosion? You know, that act of sabotage by German agents during World War 1 back in 1916, before the USA even entered the war, and which resulted in damage to the Statue of Liberty's outstretched arm, which in turn meant that the 'flame' platform has been closed to the public ever since? Why wasn't this attack mentioned even once back in 2001 after the Twin Towers and Pentagon were attacked? I remember the comparison being made to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, but no one in the media compared it to Black Tom. Why not?
2. 'Sliding' between Alternative Realities. The 1990's TV show 'Sliders' was entertaining, but it could only ever be, in my opinion anyway, pure fiction. First of all, we have no evidence whatsoever for the actual existence of parallel universes. None, nothing, zero, zilch. Secondly, even if we had such evidence because alternative realities really do exist, how would it be possible for people to visit them? What kind of mechanism would be involved in transporting them?
Anyway, I was just wondering if there were other theories out there to account for what's going on. I'm not happy with the two I mention above, because both have serious flaws so far as being a satisfactory explanation goes.
The two main explanations are:
1. Confabulation. Millions of people are just misremembering, and they are doing so conveniently in the exact same way. When it comes to the spelling of a brand-name in particular, this seems plausible, because people will often spell words or names in a manner that seems intuitive. For example, that American brand 'J. C. Penney' looks as though it should be 'J. C. Penny', because 'Penny' is a girl's name that we are all familiar with. Everyone remembers the 'Monopoly Man' having a monocle, because he's wearing a tuxedo with a top hat, and carrying a cane, and men who used to dress this way quite often had monocles as well.
However, it doesn't account for historical changes. Who here remembers something called the Black Tom explosion? You know, that act of sabotage by German agents during World War 1 back in 1916, before the USA even entered the war, and which resulted in damage to the Statue of Liberty's outstretched arm, which in turn meant that the 'flame' platform has been closed to the public ever since? Why wasn't this attack mentioned even once back in 2001 after the Twin Towers and Pentagon were attacked? I remember the comparison being made to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, but no one in the media compared it to Black Tom. Why not?
2. 'Sliding' between Alternative Realities. The 1990's TV show 'Sliders' was entertaining, but it could only ever be, in my opinion anyway, pure fiction. First of all, we have no evidence whatsoever for the actual existence of parallel universes. None, nothing, zero, zilch. Secondly, even if we had such evidence because alternative realities really do exist, how would it be possible for people to visit them? What kind of mechanism would be involved in transporting them?
Anyway, I was just wondering if there were other theories out there to account for what's going on. I'm not happy with the two I mention above, because both have serious flaws so far as being a satisfactory explanation goes.
