Editing 2241: Brussels Sprouts Mandela Effect

{{w|Brussels sprouts}} are a leafy vegetable from the cabbage family which were cultivated in Brussels, Belgium in the 13th century, giving them their name.  Many adults and children [https://www.camdenliving.com/blog/why-do-we-hate-brussel-sprout dislike Brussels sprouts], perhaps because of their bitterness.

[[Cueball]] was one of these people who, thought, he had a dislike for Brussels sprouts, but after trying them recently he had a change of heart and likes them now.  He feels "misled" by the public dislike for Brussels sprouts.  [[Megan]] chimes in and  notes that it is not just him. Farmers have developed a newer {{w|cultivar}} of Brussels sprouts around 2004, 15 years before this comic was released, which taste less bitter than the "original" cultivar of Brussels sprouts that Cueball grew up eating (a [https://npr.org/773457637 source] is provided in the comic as a foot note to Megan's statement).  

It seems that others have also started to like Brussels sprouts, which Megan calls a real {{w|False_memory#Mandela_Effect|Mandela Effect}}, hence the title ''Brussels Sprouts Mandela Effect''. Megan explains that now the whole world have a "false" shared memory of Brussels sprouts tasting bad, and it is like we have all switched to the parallel universe where they taste good. This idea was earlier used in [[1268: Alternate Universe]] regarding the weird idea of eating lobsters.

{{w|false memory|False memories}} may arise via suggestibility, activation of associated information, the incorporation of misinformation, and source misattribution, and {{w|False_memory#Commonly_held_false_memories|they can be shared}}, sometimes widely, when one of these triggers happens to many people in a population. 

The Mandela Effect, however, is a pseudoscience explanation for a false memory shared by multiple people. It states that the false memory is actually a real memory of people who had lived in a parallel world where the memory was true. This is why Megan calls this a real Mandela effect, because in this situation it is the world we live in that has actually changed, not our memories that are wrong. Now the Brussels sprouts taste different than we remembered, it is not our memories that are wrong.

In the last panel, [[Ponytail]] then tricks Cueball into thinking that {{w|licorice}}, [https://www.nbcnews.com/healthmain/why-do-so-many-us-hate-black-licorice-few-theories-963738 another widely disliked food], is good tasting. At this point Megan realizes that this must be a trap. (Also note that in many countries, for instance many in Europe, many people love licorice, so contrary to Brussels sprouts it is not so commonplace for people to hate licorice!)

That Ponytail is up to no good is shown to be true when she additionally claims that {{w|Silica_gel|silica gel}} packets are actually edible and taste delicious. This is very false! {{w|Silica_gel#Desiccant|Silica gel packets}} are typically used as a desiccant, to keep electronics and other moisture sensitive items dry.  They are typically marked "[https://www.123rf.com/photo_72752039_single-silica-gel-packet-isolated-on-white-background-.html Do Not Eat]" to warn people that they are not edible. Although not toxic, and even {{w|Silica_gel#Food_additive|allowed in some form in food}}, silica gel has a sand-like texture and no flavor or nutritional value and can {{w|Silica_gel#Hazards|cause irritation}} if digested in the raw form.

Cueball, having been prepped by both his own experience and Megan's facts are totally ready to believe Ponytail, even to the extend that he seems to feel cheated by the makers of silica gel packets, who he must now think has written ''Do Not Eat'' just to keep that delicious gel for them selves. Hopefully Megan can convince him not to find and eat them. Ponytail is often not nice to Cueball, although in other comics it is more like she talks him down, see [[:Category:Code Quality|Code Quality]], not directly trying to harm him.

The title text suggests that "Brussels Sprouts Mandela Effect" is a music band, who once were the {{w|opening act}} for the presumably better known band "Correct Horse Battery Staple". This latter group is a reference to [[936: Password Strength]]. It hints at the "{{tvtropes|AGoodNameForARockBand|good name for a musical band}}" trope, which Randall before tried to replace by a dot tumblr dot com trope in [[1025: Tumblr]]. Indirectly he also suggest that ''Brussels Sprouts Mandela Effect'' would be a great long password that is now easy to remember (as long as you remember [https://www.reddit.com/r/MandelaEffect/comments/6meq1a/brussel_sprouts_right/ there is S] at the end of {{w|Brussels}}).

:<small>^*npr.org/773457633</small>

:Cueball: '''''Cool.'''''