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PaperclipPerfector  3d ago (text post)   2311 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 23, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Who are some people that you strongly suspect to be fabulists that the general populace has not identified?

I made a comment in the context of Jason Arday about fabulists and I used Jordan Belfort, Marcus Luttrell, Chris Kyle, Greg Mortenson, Frank Abagnale, Jr. as examples. I called out or was suspicious of all of them other than Abagnale and I chalk that up to me hearing his story as a child and then not thinking about it. Took 0 convincing.

The classic spicy answer to this question is Helen Keller/Anne Sullivan. Not sure what the current consensus is on how much of what Helen Keller was real, real but exaggerated, or fictional.

Spicy is apt. I would view this as a reddit-tier view aligned with the Tear-it-all-Down, Black-is-White teenegae angsty ethos of many users there.

Keller got into and graduated Radcliffe. There is good evidence that Sullivan misrepresented certain aspects of Keller's achievements at different junctures, but to dismiss them both as fabulists is, at least based on what the historical record suggests, unwarranted.

Edit: I am not saying your take is reddit tier as I took your post as a hypothetical answer.

No offense taken. I offer no opinion whatsoever on the veracity of any particular claim regarding Helen Keller. It's just the example that first came to mind as a popular conspiracy theory fitting OP's theme.

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