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I came up with the same theory independently. There used to be a restaurant here in Brisbane Australia called Pastoodles. I know the road where it was, the exac

I came up with the same theory independently. There used to be a restaurant here in Brisbane Australia called Pastoodles. I know the road where it was, the exact shop, I drove past it many times intending to go there. One day it wasn't there any more. In its place was a different shop that had obviously been there for years. Google doesn't remember Pastoodles, nor do old paper copies of the white/yellow pages, nor do registered business listings from the years I passed it. I have looked into this. My best friend and I discussed going there multiple times but she has no memory of the conversations. The only conclusion I can come to is that Pastoodles exists in an alternate universe and I've traveled between the two.

morganvachon 11y ago
I don't know about alternate universes (though it's a cool theory), but apart from the Berenstein/stain thing, I've also had so-called "false memories" from time to time. I'll bring up conversations I would swear on my life I've had with someone, and they won't have a clue what I'm talking about. It has happened to other family members too; sometimes my mother will bring up a past event or conversation and the rest of the family will assure her it never happened. My sister can remember things from our childhood that none of the rest of us do, and we don't believe her until she breaks out an old diary and it's there in black and white. Another example of the brain playing tricks: There are so, so many times I get stopped in public or at my job by a customer, someone who swears they know me from somewhere, or that I must be related to so-and-so, when there is no actual connection. Apparently I have "one of those faces" and I seem familiar to many people. One of the most interesting times that happened was when I was 18 and browsing around in the local Head shop, this girl came up and hugged me from behind. I didn't recognize her, but she started asking me when I moved to the little Georgia town we were in, or was I just there to visit her? Despite my protests, she swore I was her high school sweetheart from Oregon, right down to my accent, mannerisms, smile, eyes, and build. I had to show her my license before she could accept I wasn't him. I would have thought she had a mental disorder if not for her best friend right beside her going on and on about how I could be his twin. I'm sure a geneticist or anthropologist could offer a theory on my uncanny resemblance to her friend in that particular instance (that, or my mother had twins and never told anyone), but it doesn't explain why so many other people see a familiar face when they look at me. Maybe I'm just that plain-faced that it's easy for others to project a known face onto mine.
- cpeterso 11y ago
  This American Life has a funny story about a man's distinct memory of seeing Jackie Kennedy Onassis waving to his wife, but his wife insists he was not there when it happened. It's short and very amusing. Animation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxQ9Gx2-ceM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxQ9Gx2-ceM Transcript (the segment is about half way down the page): http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/226/transcript http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/226/t...
- cubix 11y ago
  Once, as a child, I recall waking-up and running to the cupboard expecting to find it recently replenished with food, only to discover it was bare. My mom was still out shopping. I realized that I had only dreamt about her returning home with groceries. It's probably not applicable in the Berenstein/stain case, but I've long suspected that a lot of false memories originate in dreams that I've forgotten about having. The contents of the dream lives on, along side legitimate memories, while the fact that it was a dream fades away. The empty cupboard experience was unique because the dream was recent enough for me to recognize the false memory as a dream I had just had.
  - morganvachon 11y ago
    I think a lot of it is indeed half-remembered dreams. I've woken from dreams believing that what happened was a memory, convinced of it, even though I was aware it was also a dream. Usually this only happens when I'm physically ill (I've been fighting a bad sinus infection and I've had some hyper-realistic dreams all week).
timcederman 11y ago
I grew up in Brisbane, as did my wife - we both support you being from an alternative universe.

morganvachon 11y ago

I don't know about alternate universes (though it's a cool theory), but apart from the Berenstein/stain thing, I've also had so-called "false memories" from time to time. I'll bring up conversations I would swear on my life I've had with someone, and they won't have a clue what I'm talking about. It has happened to other family members too; sometimes my mother will bring up a past event or conversation and the rest of the family will assure her it never happened. My sister can remember things from our childhood that none of the rest of us do, and we don't believe her until she breaks out an old diary and it's there in black and white. Another example of the brain playing tricks: There are so, so many times I get stopped in public or at my job by a customer, someone who swears they know me from somewhere, or that I must be related to so-and-so, when there is no actual connection. Apparently I have "one of those faces" and I seem familiar to many people. One of the most interesting times that happened was when I was 18 and browsing around in the local Head shop, this girl came up and hugged me from behind. I didn't recognize her, but she started asking me when I moved to the little Georgia town we were in, or was I just there to visit her? Despite my protests, she swore I was her high school sweetheart from Oregon, right down to my accent, mannerisms, smile, eyes, and build. I had to show her my license before she could accept I wasn't him. I would have thought she had a mental disorder if not for her best friend right beside her going on and on about how I could be his twin. I'm sure a geneticist or anthropologist could offer a theory on my uncanny resemblance to her friend in that particular instance (that, or my mother had twins and never told anyone), but it doesn't explain why so many other people see a familiar face when they look at me. Maybe I'm just that plain-faced that it's easy for others to project a known face onto mine.

cpeterso 11y ago
This American Life has a funny story about a man's distinct memory of seeing Jackie Kennedy Onassis waving to his wife, but his wife insists he was not there when it happened. It's short and very amusing. Animation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxQ9Gx2-ceM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxQ9Gx2-ceM Transcript (the segment is about half way down the page): http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/226/transcript http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/226/t...
cubix 11y ago
Once, as a child, I recall waking-up and running to the cupboard expecting to find it recently replenished with food, only to discover it was bare. My mom was still out shopping. I realized that I had only dreamt about her returning home with groceries. It's probably not applicable in the Berenstein/stain case, but I've long suspected that a lot of false memories originate in dreams that I've forgotten about having. The contents of the dream lives on, along side legitimate memories, while the fact that it was a dream fades away. The empty cupboard experience was unique because the dream was recent enough for me to recognize the false memory as a dream I had just had.
- morganvachon 11y ago
  I think a lot of it is indeed half-remembered dreams. I've woken from dreams believing that what happened was a memory, convinced of it, even though I was aware it was also a dream. Usually this only happens when I'm physically ill (I've been fighting a bad sinus infection and I've had some hyper-realistic dreams all week).

timcederman 11y ago

I grew up in Brisbane, as did my wife - we both support you being from an alternative universe.