Was Malthus ever poor?

[Admiral Yi]

I've never encountered that colloquial meaning of know.

[crazy canuck]

I've never encountered that colloquial meaning of know.

So is that an unknown known, a known unknown, or an unknown unknown? 

[Maximus]

I've never encountered that colloquial meaning of know.

You did just now.

[Admiral Yi]

You did just now.

The colloquial sense of know suggests it has some currency.  i can't just say the colloquial sense of know is salmon loaf.

[ulmont]

The ambiguity of natural language would lead us to say that Magician A knows, while magician B just thinks he knows. In fact there is no functional difference.

Both of those count as "knows."

transitive verb
1 a (1) : to perceive directly : have direct cognition of (2) : to have understanding of <importance of knowing oneself> (3) : to recognize the nature of : discern
b (1) : to recognize as being the same as something previously known (2) : to be acquainted or familiar with (3) : to have experience of

2 a : to be aware of the truth or factuality of : be convinced or certain of
b : to have a practical understanding of <knows how to write>

3 archaic : to have sexual intercourse with

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/know

Magicians A and B both fall under definition 2a, with both "be[ing] convinced or certain of" the red marble, even though A is right and B is wrong.

[Malthus]

People who are not crazy? 

Yeah, because rich kids who think they are poor have no problem with their grip on reality at all.

People taking incredible, drawn-out umbrage over the ordinary use of the word "poor", on the other hand ... 

[Jacob]

If only there was a way to monetize this thread, we'd never be poor.

[garbon]

I've explained in detail what I said and what I meant. If you can't accept it, well, really, what can I say? That's just too bad.

I think it's a black thing, you don't have the right to use the "p" word.

How is it like that at all? Meri and CC aren't taking issue with the word poor but just as he applies to himself. I don't think the same would be true if Malthus started calling himself the n-word in public. Then black people would probably take issue with the word itself just as much as him applying it to himself.

[frunk]

How is it like that at all? Meri and CC aren't taking issue with the word poor but just as he applies to himself. I don't think the same would be true if Malthus started calling himself the n-word in public. Then black people would probably take issue with the word itself just as much as him applying it to himself.

I'm sure they'd also be annoyed if he called himself black.

[garbon]

How is it like that at all? Meri and CC aren't taking issue with the word poor but just as he applies to himself. I don't think the same would be true if Malthus started calling himself the n-word in public. Then black people would probably take issue with the word itself just as much as him applying it to himself.

I'm sure they'd also be annoyed if he called himself black.

Perhaps though I think part of that would depend on why. I'm not sure I can think of a "legitimate" reason for Malthus to call himself black.

[DGuller]

I've explained in detail what I said and what I meant. If you can't accept it, well, really, what can I say? That's just too bad.

I think it's a black thing, you don't have the right to use the "p" word.

Honestly, I've never encountered anything like this level of sensitivity about the "p" word.

Here is an analogy to make it clear. 

Let's say that you mention in some thread how many years ago, on one night, your limo driver got lost in the city, and you missed your dinner in the four star restaurant.  You were starving due to missing that dinner, and that traumatic experience made you resolved to always have a helicopter on standby in case such situation occurs again with the new limo driver.  When a Holocaust survivor reads that thread, he would not appreciate your use of the word "starving".

[Malthus]

How is it like that at all? Meri and CC aren't taking issue with the word poor but just as he applies to himself. I don't think the same would be true if Malthus started calling himself the n-word in public. Then black people would probably take issue with the word itself just as much as him applying it to himself.

I'm sure they'd also be annoyed if he called himself black.

Perhaps though I think part of that would depend on why. I'm not sure I can think of a "legitimate" reason for Malthus to call himself black.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057889/

[Malthus]

I've explained in detail what I said and what I meant. If you can't accept it, well, really, what can I say? That's just too bad.

I think it's a black thing, you don't have the right to use the "p" word.

Honestly, I've never encountered anything like this level of sensitivity about the "p" word.

Here is an analogy to make it clear. 

Let's say that you mention in some thread how many years ago, on one night, your limo driver got lost in the city, and you missed your dinner in the four star restaurant.  You were starving due to missing that dinner, and that traumatic experience made you resolved to always have a helicopter on standby in case such situation occurs again with the new limo driver.  When a Holocaust survivor reads that thread, he would not appreciate your use of the word "starving".

That's a really, really stupid analogy, because people say "I'm starving" all the time when they don't literally mean they were starving to death, and no-body - not a holocaust survivor, not an refugee from central africa - no-one would claim that it is somehow offensive to say "I'm starving, wanna grab a burger?" 

[merithyn]

How is it like that at all? Meri and CC aren't taking issue with the word poor but just as he applies to himself. I don't think the same would be true if Malthus started calling himself the n-word in public. Then black people would probably take issue with the word itself just as much as him applying it to himself.

No-no. I don't take issue with his use of the word for himself at all, anymore. He's convinced me that he's correct - from his perspective - in what he says. At this point, I don't agree with his use of the word "poor" because of the confusion that it can cause, not because I don't believe that he was or wasn't poor.

If he chooses to use that particular word to describe his circumstances, he absolutely can do so. My only remaining concern is that in doing so, his circumstances can be misconstrued to mean something that he doesn't mean. Malthus has pointed out, however, that he's kind of between a rock and a hard place on that one. I suggested broke, as his circumstances were transient, but he didn't like that word. Since I can't offer any other suggestions, I kind of feel like the conversation is at an impasse.

So far as I'm concerned, I no longer have a dog in this fight.

[garbon]

How is it like that at all? Meri and CC aren't taking issue with the word poor but just as he applies to himself. I don't think the same would be true if Malthus started calling himself the n-word in public. Then black people would probably take issue with the word itself just as much as him applying it to himself.

I'm sure they'd also be annoyed if he called himself black.

Perhaps though I think part of that would depend on why. I'm not sure I can think of a "legitimate" reason for Malthus to call himself black.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057889/

You're going to star in a movie where you pretend to be black?