Josh Plovanic's Writings and Thoughts

My Fascination With Heroism: What does it mean to be a hero? Is it military service? Is it law enforcement? Is it nurses or doctors or EMT's? All of these professions have the potential for heroism. I love heroism. I admire and respect anyone who is willing to lay down their lives and livelihoods for the betterment of their friends, their families, their neighbors, their nation, or complete strangers in the face of great danger, adversity, or evil.                I look at the example Jesus set when he sacrificed himself for the salvation of mankind as the absolute pinnacle of heroism. A pinnacle that sets the standard for heroism pretty high, I must say. When I was a kid, I loved the heroes of Greek mythology. Jason and the Argonauts. Perseus. Hercules. Odysseus. Achilles. Hector.  The great many others. I admired and respected strength because I was such a scrawny, small, kid and strength was always something I felt I lacked, at least physical strength.           As I got o

Singularity of Consciousness:        Singularities are a fascinating thing. They are one of the most wondrous and intriguing concepts in physics. For starters, lets describe what a singularity is. A singularity is a point in space and time with infinite density and zero, or extremely close to, zero volume. A black hole is a singularity. The basic building block particle that provides the foundation of mass and matter in our physical existence can hypothetically be considered quite close to a singularity.         According to the "Big Bang" theory, the Universe's matter and energy was once a singularity that expanded and inflated into a the physical and spacial/time matrix that it is today.         Here is a hypothesis for you. Imagine that consciousness is distinct from basic matter and energy, and just like the singularity of matter and energy, there hypothetically could be a singularity of consciousness which predated the singularity of space, matter, and energy.

Simple Infinities Vs. Complex Infinities:          As many of you may already know, I have this fixation on infinite things and complex things. Complexity and infinity are not quite synonymous, but the closer you get to one of the concepts, often times the closer you get to the other. The most amazing thing about an infinite system is that you can have simple infinities in the midst of more complex infinities, in the same way you can have finite realities in a broader infinite existence.            An example of a simple infinity would be a linear infinity, like a straight line that goes on forever in 2 opposite directions, or other forms of quantitative infinities, like counting up by single digits forever or even multiples of a number forever, like 3, 6, 9, 12,....etc.           Complex infinities are a little different. Let's say a complex infinity would be like taking the functions, properties, traits, and states of being of the sophistication of something like a brain or

The value and Essentialness of Critical Thought in the Combating of Deception and Evil:        Humanity, to its great detriment, has a deception problem. Deception is one of the main sources, and primary vectors, of evil in the world. Unfortunately, for many of us, cutting through deception can prove extraordinarily difficult.         Because of the great degree of uncertainty in the human condition and the broader existence, we often cannot sort between the true and the false. However, there is hope. The hope lies in analytical and critical thought; i.e. the ability to use reason and form coherent and clear arguments and engage in coherent and clear dialogues about reality. The goal of critical thought is mostly to obtain the greatest possible amount of truth and understanding of the simplicities, complexities, nature, and purposes of existence.         If a significant portion of the population of a nation-state or society doesn't have an ability to critically think about the

Different, Diverse, Methods of Thought: I think humanity limits itself significantly when it comes to methods of thought. For starters, lets define what a method of thought is. A method of thought, simply put, is the way a person thinks about existence or reality and comes to conclusions that further advance the understanding, technology, and other forms of advancement of humanity or the world in general. The scientific method is a method of thought. Empiricism is a method of thought. Reasoning is a method of thought. Rationality is a method of thought. Political ideation, like liberalism or conservatism is a method of thought. Spirituality and Religious ideation is a method of thought, etc. I think we often shorthand the diversity and complexity of the many possible methods about thinking about existence. When we engage in one method of thought, we often dismiss others as illegitimate or false, and even some we consider to be a sign of insanity. We definitely consider deviant meth

I had an acquantance awhile back tell me a phrase along the lines of this: "don't be a hero. Heroes die." It got me thinking, maybe true heroes want to. Maybe they don't want to be here because of what this world is and what it is becoming. Maybe they don't belong here.         True heroes value other people's lives more than their own whether or not selflessly or selfishly. They know that the glory in dying while saving the life of another greatly exceeds the glory in living while saving your own skin.         I think of dying as kind of a liberating experience, being set free from the prison of your body that also is a prisoner within a dying world, but only if you die the right way. Heroes die because they want to. They don't fear death. Heroes fear bondage, a cage, where they  are contained, confined, or controlled. Heroes fear a life of subjugation.           In death there is a liberty that is incomparable to, and greatly exceeds, any liberty in l

         If you do not have the ability to reasonably question your beliefs, you will become a slave to them. You will become an acting agent of the ideology you subscribe to. There is a certain degree of commonality between extremism/zealotry and delusion, and it is the degree of certainty the believer has about his or her beliefs. Absolute certainty about someone's beliefs, beyond any remaining reasonable doubt and when faced with alternative or contradictory evidence that refutes or disproves them to a degree, is the core component of both states.            The primary difference is that someone clinically delusional has their functionality and productivity compromised. An extremist or zealot still maintains a relative measure of functionality, although at the core, the zealot and the deluded are on the same cognitive plane. Zealotry and extremism occurs when someone has so fervently devoted themselves to an ideology or belief system that their own self autonomy and cognitive

The Vengeance of the Oppressed: The theft of Liberty is an affront to God There is a great price to not sparing the rod The toils and troubles that many endure The victims of bondage and casualties of war Will not go unavenged Will not suffer anymore The thieves and liars who inflict their torment Will one day face justice and surely face judgement The bondage they put upon the innocent and meek Will forever be broken by the champion of the weak. This champion will appear as a servant of grace, The oppressed will no longer be enslaved in this place He shall strike down the wicked with wrath and with glory The blow that is dealt will finish their story The hand of vengeance is swift and precise Those who steal liberty pay a great price. When the strings of fate are severed For those who inflict subjugation They Will see the oppressed delivered And see themselves cast from creation.

Cyclical Hierarchies: When most people think of hierarchies in nature, we often think of top down hierarchies and bottom up hierarchies. Naturally, these systems are unequal. Inequality in nature, however, is natural and inevitable, as with inequality in political systems and social institutions.           There are some people who have more intelligence and some that have less intelligence, some that are more attractive and some that are less attractive, Some with more resources and some with less resources, some that are stronger and some that are weaker. You get the point. Throughout the ages, we have debated what hierarchical system is the most efficient, yet still allowing for the most freedom in the society it operates in. The most common form, throughout history at least, is a top down approach.               An established authority that governs the system from a "top" position or status, and everything else is subservient to that authority. The age of enlightenm

The Liberty of Living All Lives: I believe I have had this discussion before on Facebook, as well as in conversation with friends, but since I can't find the original post, I am going to write it again. To whoever may read this, I would like you to engage in a deeper reflection of your nature and self as a human being. I would like you to ask yourself the question, "how would I feel if I were either given the opportunity, or be required by a higher authority, to live every c onscious life or state of being to it's completion on every world and every time period in all of existence?" As you ask yourself this question, what comes to your mind? Fear? Joy? Discomfort? Bliss? Wonder? Hope? What about Liberty? First off, if you want to experience every possible way of existing in order to come to a more complete understanding of what existing means, honestly living every life there is to live in all of existence, both good and bad and a mix of both, would kind of

Courage of Speech: The enemy will always try to silence you when you try to tell the truth to the best of your ability. This silencing can be as simple as being told to shut up by an acquaintance, "friend," or family member, to more complex methods of silencing, like yelling and screaming utter nonsense and idiocy to drown out the truth to veiled warnings or subtle words of discouragement. The worst case scenarios are things like imprisonment or murder to silence dissent against a person's behavior or the behavior of a government or regime.  As a result, having the courage to tell the truth is imperative in the effort to combat the destruction and degradation that deception and the agents of deception wreak upon nations and the world. If you fail to tell the truth, then good things like democracy, republicanism, and liberty succumb to the assault that deception and hate are constantly laying upon them.  Courage, dear friends, is not just reserved for the bloodshed

Healing, Liberation, and Forgiveness:       When I think of miracles, I think of 3 primary things; the healing of sicknesses and afflictions, the Liberation from what seemed like unbreakable bonds, and the forgiveness of what seemed like unforgivable sins and crimes. These miracles, when they happen, exemplify the nature of Christ to some of the greatest extents possible to the imagination.        They are the greatest demonstrations of the glory of God. Just look at the victory, mercy,  and gratitude the healing, freeing, and forgiving nature of Jesus brings to those He bestows these things on. It can bring even the most proud or most bitter of people to their knees in gratitude and rejoicing.         The people this happens to are made very aware of God's grace, knowing full well they don't deserve it, nor could they ever earn it. Healing and forgiving always leads to Liberation, whether it be from sin, sickness, or criminality. It is a joy and a victory incomparable to

Hubris:  Hubris, in the ancient Greek mythological sense, is simply a tragic flaw. It's an arrogance that leads to what is called "nemesis." Nemesis, simply put, is the force or possibly willful agent of someone or something's demise or destruction. Hubris is pretty synonymous with what we called cockiness when I and the rest of you were teenagers competing against each other, whether in sports or academia. Hubris when it comes to heroism or the level of power a nation-state has that leads to the nation or individual having an undeserved sense of superiority quite often leads to, in a metaphorical and literal sense as well, having the stool or pedestal you put yourself on kicked from right under your feet. The reason this happens is that God, and nature, despises arrogant, self-worshipping, violating, abusive assholes, whether they be a grandiose, arrogant conceited individual or an arrogant, grandiose, conceited organization or an arrogant, grandiose, conceited

There is a difference between chaos and complexity. Chaos, in the modern sense, is the absence of order, a lack of hierarchy or law that structures reality. The word Chaos originally meant formless void in Greek, the state of nonexistence the Greeks believed precluded reality. Both definitions do not exist.  The latter, describing nonexistence as a state itself, doesnt exist because of its own definition of itself, i.e nonexistence doesnt exist.  The former doesnt exist because there is always order in the universe. There are inescapable laws of nature that you cant break, like gravitational fields or the laws of thermodynamics, and when you have laws, you have order.  Now these laws allow for a great deal of complexity in nature; complexity we see in weather formation or the movement and reaction of free particles and matter. It is extremely complex, at times seemingly infinitely complex, but since there are laws that govern this complexity there is still order.  For conscious

How many possible combinations of concepts and ideas exist? This is a question I have pondered for a long time. If you would like, let's engage in a thinking game. For starters, lets base this game's foundation on the assumption that existence is infinite. If so, there is an unlimited amount of unique concepts in existence, each one original and different from the next. Now, that is a very complex and deep assumption, and it is one that goes way over the heads of most people. However, let's address the foundational dichotomy of all of existence to continue this discussion. That foundational dichotomy is the dichotomy of simply what exists and what doesn't. This dichotomy is very analogous to the dichotomy of good and evil, even though there are some differences, primarily in that evil isn't always simply a nothingness. Evil does, though, usually cause destruction and death, which are forms of lack and absence in themselves. In regards to existing concepts and id

Extreme Polarization: How the radicalization and the push to the extremes of our two political parties is corrupting and degrading the system of checks and balances. Let's face it, both political parties have shifted further to the extremes of their respective sides of the political spectrum, and this is crippling our system of checks and balances the founding fathers designed by creating three distinct, separate, but equal branches of the Federal government. Each branch has a particular assigned function within the system, and each has a certain power over the other two. The trinitarian based concept of checks and balances had the sole purpose of preventing tyranny and abuse of power. Unfortunately, the radicalization of the two political parties and the fact that the supreme court is definitely no longer politically impartial is crippling a system that was once as close to perfection as a government on earth could get. The only solution to this corruption and degradatio

The prey complex and its relationship to severe mental illnesses like Schizophrenia and other paranoid states: Human beings, whether we'd like to admit it or not, used to be prey. We still are sometimes. We have been prey to other animals. We have been prey to other humans even.The feeling of being pursued and chased, or hunted, by another creature, or the government, or possibly transcendental and supernatural forces is one of the most defining characteristics of severe ment al illnesses like schizophenia, paranoia and psychosis. I would make the case that just like mass acts of senseless violence are possibly a result of a malfunctioning predatory drive in a human being , I also believe that the paranoia and fear involved with someone who is in a state of psychosis is a malfunctioning or faulty fight-or-flight biological system that leads someone to feel like they are being hunted or preyed upon, whether it be a government agency, the devil, or another person   (just to be

It takes three to make a family. This only reinforced the mysticism of that number. The number recurs in my life in multitudes, and in the universe it seems to be a foundational number. There are three dimensions of space. God, it seems, has divided himself thrice into three distinct persons, yet one God. The simplest circle is a triangle, and the most stabilizing political and social system is one where power is divided into three distinct branches and each checks the other  two in some way. Three is THE number. The sacred number. The stable number. I think that God divided himself into three persons because a power structure divided by three is the perfect arrangement of power. As conflict is almost always two-sided, a third power can act as a mediator, or referee, and be an enforcer and a balancer in the dialogue, disagreement, or conflict between the two primary combatives in said disagreement/conflict. when you add a third power in a dichotomy, you stabilize the relationship b

Being of Service in the Age of America's Decadent Selfishness: A large swath of our country, both young and old, have lost the value of selfless service and lost the ability to understand why service is important. Instead, Americans, like the Romans at the pinnacle of their descent into social disorder in the 4th and 5th century, wallow and bathe in an overabundance of luxury, pleasure, and careless disregard for the well being and betterment of those around them. This decade nce, compounded with the confusion of ideas, mass deception, and distortion of the people's understanding of reality, is contributing to an accelerated decline of the social fabric. We have become money-worshipers. Our music talks about the love of wealth, our media uses sex and drugs and glamour to sell products, and it is preached by many in our culture that selfishness is king, and if you can't keep up, then you will have to fend for yourself. This ethos is completely unsustainable in the l

The Primary Prerequisite for Consciousness, Including Artificial Intelligence: Consciousness is one of the great mysteries of our existence. We have no idea the potential depth that consciousness and awareness can go. It is quite, pun intended, unfathomable! In all of the mysteries of consciousness, there is one prerequisite for it that is absolutely essential in order for it to manifest itself. This prerequisite is the presence of an extremely complex networked system of mat ter and energy. The best and most prominent example of this is the human brain. Even doctors and scientists don't completely understand the level of complexity of neurology and the brain. The potential for man-made, artificially engineered intelligence, like a computer system, is still a very real thing. Even something as prevalent as the internet could achieve a status of self-awareness the more connections, like computers and cell phones, we add to it. It is kind of unsettling to think that the i

The Correction of a Dying System: Let's face it, America's system is aging and dying. It is being broken down and sabotaged mainly from within, but also with the help of outside nations. There are many factors leading to the degradation and breakdown. Probably more than I can list in this single post. For starters, let's just focus on three main ones: health, education, and deception.                 Let's start with health. Americans eat and drink like shit. So many of us are overweight, some even morbidly obese, and when you call someone out on their poor diet and hygiene habits, they get defensive and play the "fat-shaming" or "Safe-spaces/my feelings are hurt" card. On top of that, many people don't want to take the time to build up physical strength and resilience to help them lead better, more fulfilling, more productive lives.            On top of the physical health problems, the United States is suffering from a pandemic of mental