Josh Plovanic's Writings and Thoughts

A dying world God's throneroom glistens The sins of men Who never listened A sadness deepens A wound bleeds red On the broken ground Of a world soon dead The Lord of hosts His angel army They destroy this world But never harm me My sins are purged With healing fire The Sword of Michael Cuts through the liar He's cast to Hell He and his fear That poisoned my world Until the final year

What makes a human being interested in, or fascinated by, certain subjects or ideas?      This is a question I have asked myself while I was studying psychology and dabbling into philosophy. I am a firm believer that interests and fascinations are innate in someone's nature, and they become readily apparent at a fairly early age in most humans.        Even so, I also know that interests and fascinations change over time, but things you once loved to read about and study and partake in don't ever completely go away. I believe it is both a biological and spiritual phenomenon with what humans are interested in and fascinated by.           There is an element of conditioning or "nurture" involved, but this usually happens to people and children after an initial interest in a field or activity is already shown by the individual. Some could even make the argument that there are predetermined natures in humans, an almost biological or neurological drive towards certain subje

Concepts are such an amazing component of reality. They give us understanding of an immense array of the components of reality. I have written before about how I believe concepts and ideas form the code by which both the abstract and concrete parts of our reality are made to exist.      I would argue this concept code that is essentially the DNA of the physical reality runs even deeper than the atom, deep, deep down into the realm of our reality that is unimaginably small. The quantum realm as it is called by scientists.          I would make the argument that this concept code of such massive complexity and a language we humans, being within this reality and subject to its laws instead of being on the external of it, cannot possibly comprehend and decipher or decode, at least not right now, and if we ever decoded this absolute and supreme concept code, we could manipulate reality to almost inconceivable levels bounded only by the scope of the imagination of mankind.        I believe t

To Divide and Conquer the Agents of the Void:              I had this image in my head a few years back now that was such a powerful metaphor and the makings of a good story. In this mental image, I saw these scientists, philosophers, and intellectuals peering into a blackness. Into a void or emptiness. Into a darkness. These people lost faith in and betrayed the light, and became deluded and deceived into thinking the answers to the mysteries of existence came from the void.         A potent deception indeed, and these people worshiped and deified the nothingness of the void, and their deification of the cause of their blindness and mental darkness led these people to start committing atrocities and horrors in their world, destroying the beauty and wonder of the histories and monuments and achievements of the cultures and peoples of the world these void worshipers lived on. The fruits of the void, it being the opposite of light, the opposite of existence, and the opposite of the divin

Four years ago or so, I was talking to the professor who taught my Origins of Life philosophy course here at MSU. In terms of my philosophical interests, not too much has changed with the exception of the depth and diversity of thought I am now interested in. Back then, I was still very much fascinated by infinity and eternity. This professor and I had a conversation on the topic, and she introduced me to the concept of bounded infinities. To demonstrate this concept, she taped two pieces of paper in a funky way where the papers were wrapped and twisted to where you could rotate the paper and spin it to where if you were to walk on that object, you could walk forever in a bounded spatial plane.  This professor had no idea the wonders and possibilities she just opened up for me. I became aware of some hypotheses about the broader existence. Imagine our universe not being unique, nor is it the only one of its kind. Imagine the spacetime matrix of our universe being an isolated and bounde

The Perfection of Love: On restless nights, my mind takes me to many places. I go from reliving trauma to being struck by the wonder of the possibilities of my future on earth as well as my future in eternity.      I realized something in my meditation. No matter how much success I have in existence. No matter how much money I may make. No matter how many dreams I get to live in life or in eternity. No matter how many miracles I witness or am a part of. No matter how many victories I have or enemies I vanquish. It is all fruitless, baseless, empty, shallow, and pointless if I do not have love, if I do not show love, if I do not give love, and if I do not feel love.          Without love, ranging from the love of my LORD to the love of my friends and family, to the love of my neighbors, to the great challenge of the love of the world and the love of my enemies, without love, existence loses a cornerstone. Without love, even the bonds that structure reality loses a part of their st

The Absolute Code: Concepts are the code that programs and lays the foundation for reality. Concepts, ideas, and the labels that identify all the facets and components of reality can be analogous to a movie many of you are familiar with.           The green fancy symbols that make up the code that forms the matrix in the movie "The Matrix"  are a good baseboard to explain how I view our reality has a similar code that lays reality's physical and conceptual foundation. Human language, like english or the hundreds of other languages on earth, allow us to label and identify the components and parts of reality.            Mathematics and numerical concepts are a language in their own right, and are not based on the culture or history of a particular group of people with a shared verbal language, making math and number codes a much more universal and international language.           Even so, I would argue that concepts are the code or foundation of reality, a

Equilibrium and War: Conflict usually starts because of an irreconcilable difference in a balance of power between two or more groups, or two or more ideologies. Once hostilities break out, the progression of conflict usually follows the course of both sides attempting to rebalance the dynamics of the society or situation they are fighting for in their favor, creating an equilibrium out of the imbalance that started the conflict to begin with.  Their are a few ways to create and/or restore an equilibrium that was distorted or destroyed in a conflict. You can fight until a stalemate, like a ceasefire of sorts, where territorial and ideological concessions and achievements are met mostly at a base level because your opponent was strong enough to prevent you from achieving your ideal territorial, material, and ideological goals. This creates an uncomfortable equilibrium that usually doesn't last very long and often goes out of balance at some point.       You can fight until you achie

I see some men wear shades all the time. It has nothing to do with the sun. Some wear them to cover the guilt in their eyes For all the things they have done. Some wear them to hide a crippling grief. A loss of a loved one or friend. Your eyes give away so much of your soul Without shades, your soul's hard to defend. Such loss, such guilt, such shame in this world. It brings many men to tears Your eyes show pain so easily Another thing they show is fear So if you want to know how someone feels Just look them right in the eyes. The eyes give away so much of their souls That shades are their only disguise.

Why Does God Set the Standard So High?: As I try to be a better person, and a better Christian in general, I have often wondered about the standard Jesus sets for his followers.  He sets it very high. Extremely High. Unreachably high. He tells us to love our enemies and pray for them, a standard a great many Christians fail to meet. He tells us that if someone wants to take your shirt, let them, and give them your cloak as well. Again, most Christians, and most people, never meet this standard. He tells us that if someone strikes you, turn other other cheek and let them strike you there as well. Another standard almost no one meets. He tells us not to judge, and boy do many Christians fall short on this one. There are a great many other examples of the high standard Jesus sets for us. Jesus sets a standard so high that its all but impossible to meet for human beings, yet he met all of them.  I believe Jesus did this, in part, to remind believers of the absolute necessity of God's g

In my quest for greater liberty, I have pondered and ruminated on the concept of liberty and what it means to be free. I believe that Liberty is not a monolith. There are many different types and categories of liberty, and with each type there is a certain measure of how much of that kind of liberty you have. I almost worship liberty. It borders on a form of idolatry with me, and I try to be careful to make sure it doesn't actually become my god.          In my pondering of liberty, I have asked the question, "what is the highest form of Liberty? What kind of liberty is the pinnacle of the liberty concept?" I have wondered if it is financial liberty. With more wealth, you can do more physical things, and go to more places. Is it the freedom of speech or the freedom to assemble? Is it the right to choose your leaders? Though these are valuable forms of liberty, I don't think any of these are the pinnacle of liberty.            I have come to the belief that the greates

So, I am posting a picture of this tattoo that I got four years ago. The reason for this is I don't think I ever explained the meaning behind it and how it's not just some random thing that I thought sounded cool.             The quote is "The strong rule the weak. The wise rule the strong. The weak rule the wise, for the wise cherish the weak."           The reason the wise cherish the weak is because the wise know that the weak can become strong, the strong can become weak, the weak can become wise, and the wise can become weak, the strong can become wise, and the wise can become strong. All these traits are interchangeable and not permanent.         This cyclical hierarchy sustains itself by the realization that anyone can change, anyone can learn, anyone can be strengthened, and anyone can be weakened.              The idea that the weak and the sick should be cast out and destroyed instead of strengthened and healed has led to the deaths of millions of people

Living Information:      When we ingest information, whether it be a picture, written words, numbers, concepts, or ideas, this information changes and molds our minds and our comprehension. This is kind of an obvious statement, one that we can easily verify as we go through stages of education and human experience.       Even so, I would like to present a hypothesis on information, one that I've dabbled in and pondered in relative depth and scope in previous posts and conversations. I would like to present this hypothesis: What if complex information, especially abstract conceptualizations and complex ideas, like ideologies and belief systems, have a significant level of agency or possibly even will and awareness?        Arguing that information is "living" in the sense that it has self-awareness or agency without being a biological organism can get you in trouble within certain fields of the sciences or academia, especially in fields like biology and psychology, bu

The Higher Authority:         I am a firm believer in the existence of God. I kind of have to be. I have seen way too much, felt way too much, and been through way to much to deny the legitimacy and presence of higher consciousness and higher authority.        What I don't know is how this higher authority and other spiritual or transcendental beings interact with humanity and the world. I feel that God interacts with the world much differently than he did thousands of years ago.         What I do know is we are the creation, and as creations we are naturally on a lower echelon than the creator, and are often given a choice to either submit and cooperate with the higher authority that governs reality, or we can stand against it in rebellion.         Unfortunately, like any choice, there are consequences, and being in open rebellion against the sovereignty of the creator will inevitably lead to our destruction, no matter how much we want to break free of "the system.&qu

         In this reality, you can't sustain anything indefinitely. This is particularly true for social and political institutions and systems. No nation or society can last forever because of the natural entropy in the human condition. As time progresses, corruptions and degradations and flaws will inject themselves into any established social and political system or institution and by definition many systems have inherent flaws from conception.            Reality is concrete and has rules and laws that govern it. When a system or program or institution is designed and put in place, the one that accounts for the most aspects of the laws of nature and human nature are often the most successful. Because of social entropy, even the most successful and best designed system will degrade and begin to fail.              Humanity's natural moral and ethical and intellectual imperfections and shortcomings feed and occasionally exacerbate and expedite the decay of the societies and

The Web of Questions and Answers:       When I was in the hospital close to a decade ago now, I had a very interesting mental conception in the midst of all the chaos and hell I was going through at the time.       It's hard to explain, but I had this image in my head of a being, like God in a way, at the start of the creation of an existence. He was by himself, but in order to create a more complex reality, he created a challenger to be present alongside him.         This challenger's sole purpose was to ask this being questions, and the being to give him answers, and I started seeing this cosmic web of creation being constructed solely based on the dialogue between the creator and the challenger of questions and answers, which then led to more questions and more answers and so on and so on.           This dialogue soon became immensely complex, as each question often led to a plethora of answers, and each answer often led to a plethora of questions. Over time, an enti

The most successful strategy you can have in any game or game scenario is what I like to call complex unpredictability. Complex unpredictability, in its simplest definition, is any strategy that is the most difficult to anticipate, adapt to, and predict by an opponent or adversary, primarily because of its complexity. The more complex and seemingly random your strategy is, often times the more successful it will be, as an opponent who can't predict you naturally can't stop you. This is true in any game, whether it be football or war. In football, the most successful teams have often the most unpredictable and unanticipatable strategies.  During the Second World War, our adversaries attributed the success of the American Military partially because of our apparent "Chaotic" approach to war and combat. I must be clear, there is a difference between chaos and complexity. You can have something extremely complex and still have order to it. In chaos, their is no orde

There are three primary forces in reality that make it impossible for a perfect government, a perfect ideology, a perfect church, a perfect company, or a perfect person to exist. They are these: uncertainty, complexity, and entropy (decay).          Ideas are, in their base form, perfect, but only in the form of an idea. Even bad ideas are perfect in the sense that conceptually they should work if applied. (This is not necessarily a moral perfection, but a perfection of the ideal outcome of the idea, although moral perfections apply as well) Once an idea is applied in a system of matter and energy of relative complexity, the complexity leads to a degree of uncertainty that is impossible to anticipate or significantly control, and that once perfect concept cannot maintain its perfection in a physical world, and becomes flawed and unpredictable.              Entropy, or decay, plays an important factor in this as well. Since matter and energy are in constant change in structure, mass,