I vividly remember the cornucopia in the “Fruit of the Loom” logo because my mother would purchase tees for my father. What piqued my intrigue was the fact that I hadn’t the faintest clue what the basket containing the fruit was called. To be honest, I’d just acknowledge it as such and left it at that. Years later, I would learn that this so-called basket, the cornucopia, had, in fact, never existed! Enter the ‘Mandela Effect’: a widely discussed phenomenon in which a great number of our population misremember certain events or situations. Misinterpretation or even a fabricated perception of childhood memories are theoretically to blame.
by Katherine Reilly
Some time ago, I stumbled upon the infamous social media debate whether the logo ever actually included the cornucopia or not. Yes, that’s when I learned what it was called. Funny thing how memory recalls certain objects or situations in vivid detail, only to discover a new word, literally decades later.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’m not here to debunk or support the notion that the logo ever featured the cornucopia. The company itself insists such a version never existed, which in all honesty prompts me to think this is either a clever publicity stunt, or the even bolder claim I’ve read that we are experiencing a reality shift since 2012; read it online, some claims can make you question our very existence.
There I go again, lost in thoughts and conspiracy theories. Nelson Mandela was believed by many to have died in prison in the 1980s, when he later made headlines upon his release from prison in 1990. The general population made it adamantly clear that he had left us years prior, only to be proven wrong. Thus, the term “The Mandela Effect” came to be.
Now, why in the world would an ELT fanatic as myself, write about a conspiracy theory involving the ‘Fruit of the Loom’ logo? As I mentioned earlier, I clearly recall the logo including the cornucopia. No, it’s not a matter of obstinacy. I simply couldn’t wrap my head around the specific depiction of fruit spilling out of it. It was literally on all my father’s tees. More importantly, this shows how imagery correlates with lexical production. Had I not recalled the image in question, I would not have been able to associate a new word to it; one that has now become deeply ingrained in my mind.
This correlation between imagery and lexical recollection illustrates how our minds acquire and reproduce vocabulary. Oe might say the Mandela Effect parallels the process of language learning in more ways than you could imagine. How often have you heard your students claim: “I’ve heard that word before!” Even though you’ve never taught it to them yourselves? Various logos, brands, cultural references, or songs are amongst the many stimuli that subconsciously contribute to language learning. This discrete, passive stimulation, many a time works wonders in the classroom.
Of interest is the fact that students who are not avid supporters of homework or studying frequently, could potentially excel in producing the target language. Admittedly, we do live in a technological age of overexposure to information and entertainment, which I call a predicament: for obvious reasons as our students have become unwilling servants to the online monster of information. Yet, if we choose to harness the situation, we could take advantage of the mind’s capacity to observe, retain, and associate visual input with productive linguistic output. Imagery, video and similar stimuli can offer students a web of notions which can be intricately intertwined within the great machine we call our brain. Visuals become words, memory retention is enhanced, and language production ensues.
Nonetheless, the Mandela Effect is the embodiment of false memories. As such, students might misremember grammar rules, word usage or pronunciation. I’ve personally witnessed students swear they had seen a word before, only to be proven wrong upon explanation. Just as people are surprised to learn that the cornucopia was “never there,” students who experience similar realizations in class, can actually benefit upon such revelations by challenging their own linguistic memories.
Research, reflection, repetition: the formula for success. Making a mistake is not the issue; refraining from self-improvement is. By allowing subtle, albeit gentle correction and awareness, one can transform false interpretations into true knowledge. In this sense, the Mandella Effect provides an enlightening metaphor of language learning: as our minds are constantly restructuring our perceptions of reality, teaching is rendered essential for guidance towards its reconstruction.
Katherine Reilly 