[thedoc (OP)]

Steve Brown asked the Naked Scientists:
   
Can you explain the Mandela effect, and how it applies to practical science?
What do you think?

[evan_au]

It appears that the Mandela effect is a shared false memory.
Some have suggested that this is evidence for a multiverse.
Others suggest that it is an artifact of our fallible memories.

See: http://www.snopes.com/2016/07/24/the-mandela-effect/

[Lord Antares]

It is a simple misunderstanding and a false memory.

For example, the Berenstein/Berenstain bears controversy.
It is very easily explained due to the fact that the natural spelling of these words would be ''stein'' (Einstein, Frankenstein, Wolfenstein, etc.) so it is only natural that a lot of people would pay no close attention and remember it as such. There is no conspiracy or voddoo here.