Just the two of us
There’s something weird going on. Something that makes me question the very fabric of reality itself.
I was sitting flicking through channels some time ago and came across Pulp Fiction. It’s a favourite of mine and I originally saw it not long after it was first released. I also own it on DVD and I’ve watched it several times since.
It was towards the end, at the scene where Jules and Vincent confront Pumpkin and Honey Bunny. Jules and Pumpkin are sat at a table and Honey Bunny is standing on a counter needing to pee with Vincent emerging from the toilets. I was surprised they’d cut the bit where Honey Bunny peed on the counter but it’s not uncommon for films aired on television to make subtle changes. It was odd given the tone of the film but not unheard of — violence is okay but bodily functions can be taboo?
For anyone that’s watched the film and knows the scene in question, chances are, you’re wondering what I’m babbling on about — you’re thinking she did need to pee but she didn’t pee on the counter. But she did. Or at least that’s what I remember, and I’d have bet good money on it.
Fast forward (pardon the pun) some years later and I’m watching it again, and once again the scene is missing. This prompted me to dig deeper — why has the scene been removed? Was there some story behind this?
It wasn’t long before I stumbled on a post in the Mandela effect subreddit with someone reciting the scene almost exactly as I remember it; they mentioned several distinct and visceral details that resonated with me, further validating that I had seen it, it had happened, and I just needed to evidence it.
Unfortunately for me, my recollection of Pulp Fiction was not shared by many others, and having searched high and low ever since, other than the one Reddit thread, I’ve found no corroborating evidence.
A false memory shared by large numbers of people. Named for Nelson Mandela, whom many recall dying in prison — though in fact he was freed and went on to be president.
And whilst it is possible I’ve muddled things up, it’s odd that someone else’s memory aligns so closely with mine — so have we both muddled it up, and if so, with what? As far as I can tell, out of several billion, there are just the two of us.
I’m certain of what I saw, and whilst I can shrug off most Mandela effects this one is too vivid for me. I vaguely remember the girl in the Bond movie smiling at Jaws and she had braces; it made sense at the time because she was embarrassed about them and despite the disparity between her and Jaws it was something they shared in common with Jaws having metal teeth. But apparently that never happened, and having seen the movie maybe once many decades ago I’m open to that reality.
But not this reality. The memory is too vivid for me.
The only thing I think any of us can say for sure is that at any waking moment we share a reality with others, but there’s no guarantee tomorrow will be the same one. You may find you’ve woken up in a reality almost identical to this one in almost every way albeit for some minute and subtle difference — so subtle it may take you decades to realise — and is it then just a distant memory playing tricks on you, or has your reality diverged?
If we’re honest there are many fundamental questions about reality and consciousness that we can’t yet answer, and the deeper we dig the stranger it gets, and it doesn’t get any stranger than at the quantum scale. Predicting quantum interactions is a tricky business and unlike standard particle physics we need to use Feynman diagrams that take into account potential interactions outside of our own reality — without them the maths simply doesn’t stack up.
These and many other quantum oddities open the door to the possibility that reality may be complex and multi-faceted, and our conscious interpretation is but a fragment of a larger whole. Who’s to say where the boundaries lie and whether it’s possible to drift from one groove to the next?
A glitch in the Matrix, or just a scratch on the record?
I wonder what side B has to offer.