The Mandela Effect is super fascinating to me.

Not because it’s proof of some kind of cosmic-weaving, branching-timeline nonsense.

But because it’s proof that people will accept just about anything rather than admit they were wrong.

As part of this ongoing discussion, check out this video from TikTok user @tierntoks:

“My husband and I are at a Vineyard right now, and we decided to, in true millennial fashion, play a game to pass the time. And we found this really old game. Turns out if you look at the back of the box, it’s from 1991.”

“The very first card that we look at is called clues. That’s the theme. So the idea is that you give your partner the clues, and they have to guess the brand. The first three clues right here are underwear, cornucopia, and apples, and grapes. Can you guess what the brand is? Can you guess?”

“You can read that it’s fruit of the loom. This is from 1991. That proves that there was always a Cornucopia in the fruit of the loom logo.”

“As far back as 1991, there was always a Cornucopia.”

@tierntoks

we ARE remembering it correctly! #mandelaeffect #fruitoftheloom #conspiracytiktok

♬ original sound – tierntoks

Granted, that’s an interesting find, and I’d probably point it out if I found it too. But does it actually “prove” anything?

The thing about memories, especially memories from childhood, is that they’re WAY more malleable than we think.

Because of the way memories are actually formed and preserved, we can become absolutely convinced of things that are just objectively incorrect.

Everyone thinks they’re the exception to this, but it’s a normal human trait.

This claim has gotten some viral play, but it’s absolutely wrong.

Don’t get your news from TikTok. This has been thoroughly debunked.

And here we hit the dangerous cycle of ignorance:
– Have a poor understanding of how to parse reality
– Blame education
– Vilify education
– Destroy education
– Have an even more poor understanding of how to parse reality

As cool a find as this board game is, given the preponderance of other evidence , it really does just indicate that this common misconception has been around for a long time.

Or multiverses are colliding to make small differences in logos, somehow.

Both seem equally likely, right?

If you liked that story, check out this one about a woman who went on a date with somebody who was 10 years older than her. Find out what happened!