The Mandela Effect, Conspiracy & The Dangers Of Weaponised Ignorance

In a bumper edition of Bunkum & Ballyhoo, historian and author Patrick W. Reed uses examples from his own memory to example one of the internet's favourite bizarre beliefs, the timeline-hopping, detail-altering mischief of the Mandela Effect. It's an exploration that takes in personal history, the paranormal, the vagaries and weaknesses of human history, while asking how the Mandela Effect can serve as a gateway drug to more dangerous beliefs, and what it tells us about the increasingly selfish and atomised nature of our culture, all serving to examine why we believe what we believe, and what leads people further and further down rabbit holes of conspiracy theory, extremism, and irrational beliefs in the face of contradictory evidence. All while finding time to fit in Bigfoot, the Satanic Panic, QAnon, and the nature of childhood fandom.Selected Bibliography:The Science of Weird Shit by Professor Chris FrenchSatanic Panic: Pop-Cultural Paranoia in the 1980s, edited by Kier-La Janisse and Paul CorupeSatanic child abuse claims are almost certainly based on false memories - Professor Chris French, The Guardian, 18/11/14Audio Sources:WWF Monday Night RAW Intro - 1993