Of course we all study the Mandela Effect our own way. But sometimes, it's a really slippery effect, and we have only our memories to rely on. We want to understand it better, to look for the trends, to see what's going on, maybe even dare to predict where things are going, but just from looking at Berenstain, Ford logos and singers names, there's just not that much to learn beyond "Oh, another one."
The beauty of studying the Mandela Effect by using geography is that you can study it yourself very easily, and get your own perspective. Yes, you still rely on your memory, but you are looking in a specific area, and you can memorise details that are going to be important - because you know what they are - so that you notice when they change. Whether you want some (extra) proof for yourself that the Mandela Effect really is happening, or you want to study the way it works, this is a great area to get into. Study maps. Memorise as best you can what things look like now. Check back a few days or weeks later, watch it change.
You can make sure it's not about map distortions, by simply taking a single map or map system and studying that. We use Google Earth for reference, but any are fine - just pick one, as not all maps change at the same rate.
You can draw lines to show where landmasses are, but if you base your lines specifically on where the coastlines are, your lines will change along with the coastline as changes happen and propagate through. This happened in a lot of Lone Eagle's videos on YouTube. You're better off drawing generic lines, and watch the landmasses move across these lines. We've done this for months now, and have Google Maps drawing files available if you want to have a look. Or you can make your own.
Watch for the trends detailed in our companion post, and check if you can see some of these predictions happening over the next few weeks and months. As you do, you'll learn a lot about how the Mandela Effect works. You'll see the small changes over time, the appearance of an island here, the disappearance of a barrier there, the merging of islands and the motions of whole continents, in a very specific direction, and step by step. It's surprisingly fun to wake up to a map you studied in detail just a day ago, and see a massive change in just a few hours. It's even more fun to watch where a chance is headed, to make a prediction, and a week later to see that exact thing happening. So much beauty and harmony is going on with the Mandela Effect, we'd be selling ourselves short if we didn't look at it up close and personal. Show it a little love.
If you want more than just maps, think about the implications, and google for things you think might happen. Kangaroos in New Guinea, for example, didn't used to exist, they were an Australia only species, because Australia was a very remote island. But then Australia moved and got cosey with New Guinea. For the first few months after, still no kangaroos in New Guinea. Now ... they've suddenly always been there. You could have seen that change coming easily, just from seeing the change in geography.
Below is a simple list of what kind of things you may want to look for if you want to try studying the Mandela Effect by using geography.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR ON A MAP
Again, Google Earth is not sacred, it's just convenient as the maps are updated only once every few years, and you can zoom in and out and watch elevation levels easily. It doesn't matter if it's not accurate in all details, we're looking for the patterns.
- Look for land-water edges. It's difficult to look at borders of countries, or exact shapes of mountain areas, but places where the land meets the water are easy to notice, and interesting to study because that's where most of the change is currently happening. So focus there.
- Look for areas where it looks like landmasses are trying to connect, where they are "reaching out to each other" so to speak.
- If you have the skill, you can also intuitively feel where the landmass is trying to move to, and check for a few weeks or months to see if it does. When you do, you'll find they are moving a little like weather patterns.
- Look for bright blue, very vivid colouring along the coast and waterbodies. Where this particular colour of blue shows up, you can very often expect to see Mandela Effects show up.
- Look for name changes and unnamed islands. When a new island suddenly Mandela-appears, sometimes it won't have a name yet, it will just be this big landmass hanging out, that wasn't there yesterday, that doesn't have a name. Sometimes, they do have a name, but it's a very strange one, and it changes to something more reasonable a day or what later. The big island to the north-west of Scotland is a good example. It appeared out of nowhere one day without a name, then had a very long, very Welsh sounding name (G-gragahghdasdas graghhhhhsa - paraphrasing obviously), then suddenly it was very civilly called "Isle of Lewis".
- Look for the elevation if you are using Google Earth or an equivalent. Some places still look like they are very much separated by water, but the elevation numbers are changing and showing the water is now very shallow, sometimes only -1 or even 0 meters. If two landmasses are connected by very shallow waters, and a few other indicators are present, it's very likely they will connect.
- Look for shapes, distances between things, and connections. If it helps, see faces and shapes in landmasses, because those are easy to remember. Eventually, the landmass will change and no longer resemble the shape you imagined it being, and you'll see how much it changed. It's like watching for patterns in the clouds and seeing them change as they float by.
- Look for patterns of small islands. You can see:
* New tiny islands appearing, as little dots, surrounded by a darker blue. Sometimes there's only one or two, sometimes they show up by the dozens overnight.
* Tiny islands starting to merge together, forming a single bigger island.
* Strings of small islands, sometimes across massive curves through the ocean, that would if they surfaced as a landmass connect several parts of the world. You can see new islands appearing here easily.
- Look for patterns in landmasses, specifically:
* Land that looks like fabric that's been stretched too thin, with little lakes or rivers in between, like it's been trying to cover a larger area. Often, land like that will eventually fill right back up.
* Land that looks "frazzled", especially if it's got lots of small islands with it.
- Look for patterns in coastlines, such as:
* The formation of inland seas. If something looks like a bay, but there are a lot of small islands around it, or a big island near it, keep an eye on it, it may change and become a more closed off bay, or eventually even a full sea.
* "Fingers" starting to stick out of previously smooth coastlines, almost like they are reaching out to something. By themselves these are not per se interesting, but if they seem to be reaching towards something specific, such an another island, a continent, a string of islands, keep an eye on them.
* Coastlines that have a very similar shape to opposing coastlines, to the point where they look like they fit very neatly together. While traditionally this was a sign of recent separation, with the Mandela Effects, it can also be a sign of imminent joining.
SOME STARTING POINTS
If this seems interesting to you, but you figure a whole world is a big place to start, and you're not great at topography, pick a single area, look at it till you get a sense for where things are, draw some generic lines if you like, and check back regularly. Don't wait so long that you don't trust your memory anymore. To avoid having to look at lots of places where nothing is changing, here's some good ones:
- The North Coast of Australia. This place so much wants to touch base with the rest of the land surrounding it, it's reaching and stretching all the time.
- The Indonesian turtle above Australia. Massive landmass changes are happening here, and there are enough islands that it's easy to keep track of.
- Denmark. It's nearly connected to Sweden, this transition seems roughly 2/3 of the way done, but there's still enough interesting things to see.
- Japan. Islands are connecting and disconnecting and changing shapes every day. It's eventually going to link in to Russia and the Koreas.
SOME LAST TIPS
- Stay away from places you're too emotionally wrapped up in, or too familiar with, like a place you live. You're going to get in your own way here.
- Look at it from joy, from curiosity, don't get obsessed or tense about it, you will mess up your awareness of Mandela Effects and notice less and less.
- Keep politics out of it. If Brexit makes you nervous, or you have Opinions about Russia, or China, or the US, or whatever, leave those alone. Check out something you're neutral about. You'll find many more changes, and a lot more fun along the way.
Note: Google Earth drawing files available for those who want to study them and compare them to the changes mentioned above, or who just want to get an idea of what it looks like.