The real ME
can be combination of discrete functions. It is neither only THIS nor
THAT. Undoubtedly it is many different things.
The limit of
"western thinking" is that someone or something is a binary 1 or
zero. That is, it is either good or bad. In eastern philosophy people and
things can be and are both good and bad at the same time. Schrödinger showed us
this fact in his feline thought experiment where the cat could be thought of as
being both alive and dead (until we look at it and only one condition remains.)
The Eastern
symbol of Yin and Yang depicts this very well. Half the circle is black and
half is white. In the larger black portion there is a small white circle. In
the white portion there is a small circle of black.
This symbol
can stand for male and female, good and evil, right and wrong or any other dual
nature concept.
By this philosophy
even the most reviled despotic dictator has a bit of "good", truth
and redemption in him. Life and reality itself is described in these terms. The
ME is by no means exempt from this symbolism.
Not every
claimed ME is significant as part of the whole phenomenon. Some examples are
mere faulty memory. Some are the results of fantasy in the minds of the
claimant. Others are explained by wishful thinking. A few examples escape
classification and remain inconclusive since the entire process is an exercise in
trying to prove a negative.
Singular
examples can be truly unexplained other than by considering the past to be
actually fluid and changed mostly without anyone noticing.
In the book
The Lathe of Heaven, Ursula K. Le Guin in 1971 introduces George Orr who has
"effective dreams" which alter reality. He claims the world was
destroyed in 1998. He dreams it back into existence while dying in the rubble.
See Wikipedia entry {en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lathe_of_Heaven#Plot_summary}
Much of the exotic claims people have made to explain the ME are very similar
to Le Guin's book from 1971 and the movie version from 1984.
In order to
get to the essential nature of the ME we must pass everything through a sieve
to "separate the wheat from the chaff." Not all "evidence"
holds equal value. For example, if Berenstein was the original spelling of the name
of the fictional bear family there is negligible probability anyone would
mistakenly see it as Berenstain and this would be a non-controversy. Likewise
if the title had originally been "Sex In The City" no one would be
claiming it to be "and the City." The controversy only arises when
the original version was "odd" and claimants swear it was never that
way. This observation itself casts doubt on a change ever having taken place.
Secondarily,
evidence becomes tainted with manipulation. Any such evidence must be excluded
even it it demonstrates the ME in more than a mind game. The examples just
cannot be trusted.
Such is the
VW logo with or without a division between the letters. Volkswagen never used
or licensed a VW logo without the division line. This doesn't mean other
companies didn't manufacture knock-off versions and omit the break. Also the
photographs of supposed variant logos are all either manipulated forgeries or
of poor exposure quality that a bright spot obscures the division. So far there
is no "residue" photos which have been fully vetted that stand up to
scrutiny.
Did you know
you can still buy a classic WV Beetle from the model year 1984, 85, 86? You
just can't license them for use in America. The last of its kind rolled off the
assembly line in Puebla, Mexico on July 30, 2003.
The same tainting
of evidence applied to the JFK assassination limo. The claims people remember a
4-seat lime are from memories which are today 54 years old or are hearsay from
listening to a parent or even a grandparent about "how they recall"
what took place. Many photographic recreations and cinematic productions have
been made over the years using props and actors available at the time. Photo
ops have been created to accompany journalistic writing. And not to be excluded
are the camera angles and partial vehicle shots which purport to be the short
limo but leave out the front part of the vehicle.
The actual
limo resides at the Henry Ford Museum in Detroit. It has been upgraded with a
permanent hardtop, armor plating and a new engine grille. Yes it is a 3-row,
6-seat limo. None of the popular internet published limo pictures with allege a
4-seat limo survive the vetting process at an evidentiary level.
Many other
of the popular ME examples are also tainted with knock-off products and
international variations. Flinstones is one of those examples. If Febreze was
today Febreeze, I suspect no one would be claiming they remember Febreze, per
my earlier suggestion.
Now for Massive Geographic Differences.
If a logo
were actually altered by an alleged time traveler that other than the time travel
event itself it would be relatively easy to convince a graphic designer in a
corporate product development department to make it Froot Loops because the cereal
in fact contained no fruit. Besides, Froot Loops has a kind of unique symmetry that
goes with the Toucan themed jingles.
A time
traveler would have zero mechanisms to move South America 1000 miles east or
Australia 100 miles north.
In order to
substantiate movement in tectonic plates which float continents around the
globe and have two realities we must enlist the concept that there are at least
two quantum copies of Earth where the continents are in vastly different
locations. We are supposed to assume the veracity of a person who claims he/she
remembers the other version from when he/she was in elementary school (when one
usually is exposed to Geography.) Interestingly John Tuzo Wilson first
introduced the concept of Continental Drift in 1963. Before that time
geophysicists could not wrap their heads around the idea that continents
actually moved relative to each other. While they do indeed move. It takes
millions of years to move a humanly noticeable distance.
This remembrance
pre-supposes the person jumped from one quantum Universe to another. We are supposed
to accept the notion of a fully formed quantum universe and the idea the
claimant exists in both and can move seamlessly between them rather than they
were not paying close attention to the teacher and the world maps in 5th Grade.
I's be far more willing to accept their explanation of why South America moved
1000 miles if the vetting process of this person revealed a coherent and
consistent alternate history which is not in conflict with their alternate geographic
configuration.
All such
claims of major geographic differences fail the vetting process, so far.
If logo
changes and spelling differences are man-made retroactive changes to the past
and are consistent with the ME, then geologic differences fail the ME test.
Something else in at play including bad memory or outright deception.
Flip-flopping
The idea of
Flip-flopping seems to be more of a device to establish credibility or one to
convince ones-self of the claim. The failure of this phenomenon as an ME stems
from the absolute locality of the Flip-flop. If something were changing Froot
Loops boxes it would be happening everywhere all at once (or at least at the speed
the change travels.) More than one person would see the differences and the
transitions.
Unless
several to many people observe a Flip-flop taking place it is more likely the
flip-flop experience is a singular personal one. Something no one else can see
because it is completely internal. Like a pain. No one else knows you have a
one unless you tell them.
Wheat From Chaff
There is
some wheat out there. We need to make a distinction. People allegedly dying
years ago versus last month or not at all is a very weak example of the ME. It
is far too easy and common for such reports to propagate around the Internet
and never to be enshrined in ink on paper. The stark example is Nelson Mandela
himself. There are multiple published exact dates when he supposedly died.
While those publications could actually have published wrong information
without malice or conspiracy to do so, his story stands out as an enigma.
And Now This
The
indisputable characteristic embodied by the ME is that everyone is only who and
what they remember. If you remember life events being a particular way, be
prepared to either accept everyone else's take on it or be prepared to accept
the inevitable blow-back. While you are trying to preserve your world view, so
are they. The simple explanation is either you remember something wrong or
something changed things after you experienced it. As with all other
situations, chose for yourself what to believe.
