Josh Plovanic's Writings and Thoughts

Consciousness is a fascinating thing. It's a wondrous thing. It is one of the most mysterious and important components of reality. Humans, as far as we know, have the most advanced brains of the animal kingdom. Even so, that statement doesn't delegitimize the consciousness of other organisms. Within individual humans, most people usually have one conscious awareness, or one personality. At least I think this is the case. I'm not sure, though. Their brain network in a sense bears host to just one consciousness. However, I believe you can partition consciousness within a single network (brain) and form two destinct consciousnesses within the framework of one human body and one human brain. If both consciousnesses are fully functional, there could be distinct advantages in doing so. You could have a learning dialogue within the mind between the two distinct consciousnesses. This can help a person learn quicker and develop more complex thought more easily.

       The motive of an extremist is to achieve the objective of their ideas, and the procedure of doing so almost always includes violence and death. To an extremist, whether on the left or on the right, violence is not only acceptible, it becomes an essential method to achieve the extremist's objective. Human life and property are easily expendible to political extremists, which is why it's so important to contain them.        If you fail to contain extremism on both ends of the spectrum, your nation will rift, will fracture, and civil war could possibly even break out. This is why its so important to have a well armed and well organized moderate majority that values human life. Extremism always leads to violence, hate, death, and destruction       Extremists are slaves to their ideology. They cannot think objectively. They cannot rationalize or reason through their ideas to determine either the fallaciousness of them or the improbability of the successful application of some

         Ideas are one of the definitive traits of human consciousness. Ideas range from things as simple as what you are planning for lunch or as complex as how to structure nations, societies, and governments. Humans usually compehend, label, and categorize ideas through words and syllables.          Syllables are the fundamental sounds of language, and even though they are the smallest sounds of a language, they form the building blocks whose meaning constructs all ideas and concepts       The words that label ideas in any respective language can be described as a set of information in itself. This is not much different from  mathematical sets. However, mathematical sets usually deal with measurable quantity.          The set of information that make up ideas usually deal with meaning, which is different than quantity. the information that makes up the meaning of an idea (its "set of information") is usually a lot more ambiguous, unclear, uncertain, and often difficult to

One thing I have learned is that when animosity and hostility between groups of people start intensifying, it is very much a psychological thing. It falls on the institutions and agencies which control the flow of information within social and political groups to attempt to diffuse the belligerence going on in the violent events       Usually this means giving some concessions to the protesters and negotiating with them. The United States should not follow in the footsteps of authoritarianism.  We really need to stop treating people like shit in this society, whether it be because of race, religion, ethnicity, or orientation. There is this amazing principle: if you stop treating people like shit or slaves, then people will be happier, cooperative, and much less likely to be violent.          The United States Government is reknowned for treating huge swaths of people like shit. I genuinely hope we don't see dozens or hundreds dead in protests. Its up to the government. Its up to th

Words are powerful. Words are how you label almost all components, fundamentals, and parts of existence. Words can help lift up spirits and strengthen minds. They can also bring people down and dehumanize them.        There are weaponized words. Attack words, which I don't need to list on this post. In order to have a word be effective, your audience/victim needs to know its meaning, and intonation and volume of voice is also how you can detect whether someone is joking or being playful or has openly hostile intent. There is a reason certain words should never be used in certain contexts and situations. They dehumanize certain groups of people and they are essentially weapons that strike the mind. Labeling is cursing when done in a negative to dehumanize, don't kidd yourself. Labeling and stigmatizing essentially put marks on people's backs, and to some circles it makes the labeled/cursed person an enemy, even putting their life in danger at times. There was a reason slande

Americans are sweeping generalizers. When we see a turtle with a straw up its nose, we scream "ban all straws!" When we see an act of violence committed by a gun, we scream "ban all guns!" When someone gets hurt on a playground, some parents scream "ban dangerous playground equipment!" Here is the problem with generalizations: simple solutions to complex problems lead to ineffective, sometimes distastrous, and sometimes even oppressive policies by leadership and government. Sweeping generalizations also weaken a society, dumbing us down and making us overreact and not form coherent and effective complex strategies to combat social ills. Sweeping generalizations coupled with prejudice can lead to hate crimes, slavery, and even state-sponsored murder. Social problems are complex, and complex problems are never solved by quick, simple solutions. It is intellectual and political laziness to make sweeping generalizations and take the quick and easy approach. Si

They cycle in and out of realities In and out of worlds In and out of bodies They live to die They die to live They fight to win They learn from loss They grow from failures They give glory to God in victory They are righteous warriors Honest warriors They are quick to mercy Slow to brutality They never harm the innocent They prefer precision to overkill They are the scalpel, not a hammer They prefer liberation over conquest They go to world upon world Through culture upon culture They defend the meek They defend the weak They heal the sick They traverse the infinite creation Killing the agents of terror and fear They restore order on broken worlds Their bodies may die But their souls are undying They are God's chosen God's personal Army They are the eternal Warriors

As someone who has been around the block a few times because of mental health, I have dealt with psychiatry for most of my life. I've had more chemicals put into my body then probably anyone most of you would know.        I'm not too upset by that. I'm not sure, but I think it made me smarter. I'm not against taking medication. However, I look at the abuse of psychiatry as having the potential to be a real life "Brave New World." It's scary, but the more advanced we get altering neurology and brain chemistry, the more potential for stripping away free thought and liberty of the mind we get.  Even though psychiatry can be very helpful and may even save lives, the potential utility for social control is still present, especially when it is abused by governments or companies for illegal research or gaslighting tactics of covering up crimes by convincing witnesses or victims that they were hallucinating or delusional when they were not I'm not saying this

The definitive enforcer of law isn't necessarily law enforcement itself. It is the psychological effect on the mind of the threat of consequence. It is mostly that mental effect alone that keeps order in society.         The threat of consequence is acts like a force in its own right, restricting the behavior of individuals within a system mostly within the interests of protection and the preservation of life and property.          If the threat of consequence is too severe, the government is oppressive. If it is to light, the society is chaotic. Striking the balance proves to be difficult for humanity, and there is much ambiguity involving what types and severities of consequences are appropriate for certain situations across all nations and cultures.           The threat of consequence is the spirit of the rule of law. Of course, a strong police and a strong military is essential for the preservation of order and security in society.  However, a more advanced society would have t

I wrote a philosophy paper 4 years ago in one of my classes about extraterrestrial intelligence and how we would relate to it. I argued that if an alien organism could get advanced enough to cross the vastness of interstellar space, it would have to survive its own species. As a result, it would be highly morally and ethically advanced, valuing the lives of members of its species regardless of belief or physical differences.         In order for humanity to reach somewhere else in this universe, we also would have to reach that same survival necessity. Unfortunately that's not looking super promising. Humanity has too much hate and too much confusion.        We prey on each other over silly differences such as what color someone's skin is. We massacre people over just having different beliefs about reality. Most people can't see past the vain, simplistic traits of someone such as what they look like and how they talk.          Intelligent children are brutalized because of

Prosperity, believe it or not, has it's negatives. Long periods of prosperity in a society can often turn a culture into that of a hedonistic, pleasure-oriented, vanity saturated, and decadent populace. Prosperity often brings an over abundance of resources like food and entertainment.        A detrimental consequence of this is we don't have to work as hard to survive, thriving becomes almost an inherited given for the majority of people, and we lose the need to hone our mental and physical faculties and capabilities. A blunt and quite politically incorrect simplification of this consequence is we become fat and stupid because of our overabundance of resources and the presence of relatively efficient security preventing most threats from becoming systemic problems for a majority of people in society.            Prosperity spoils us in this regard. Not only is the need for mental and physical prowess and resourcefulness diminished by the overabundance of resources and relative

    Ideas are truly eternal. They live far past the person or people who accessed them and brought them into reality. As a result, the warfare and conflict between the followers of those ideas never truly end       It is a tragedy, but we must face the truth. We are still at war with fascism. We are still at war with communism. We are still at war with extremism, terrorism, hate, and fear, no matter how far into the future we progress.       When we win a war, we only end the bloodshed of that immediate conflict, but so begins the process of containment and subduing of the adversarial ideology that was responsible for the disruption of the order of the world and the balance of power at the time. Since ideas never die, containment is an endless process. Unfortunately, containment can only last so long, and the adversarial ideology simply restructures itself and makes itself more appealing to a new potential host, and then it begins its assault on your established system again. Ideas can

        I can't keep track of how many times my mental health has been weaponized by people in my community, members of my family, or authorities and people in positions of power in my life. There are few labels more socially damaging and few labels that strip you of opportunities more quickly and effectively than a mental health diagnosis.         Mental illness causes a lot of fear and uncomfortability within society. The misunderstanding of mental illness leads to some pretty sad and horrible things. It can lead to abuse in many forms. It leads to a significant reduction in social status. Being labeled as delusional or insane automatically turns you into an outcast and a social pariah, delegitimizing your perspectives, opinions, or beliefs as the thoughts and ramblings of a "crazy person."        Once labeled, a significant degree of your opportunities are stripped away, and the mentally ill person is reduced to something akin to a second class citizen in a sense, with

I have loved you your whole life, even before you took your first breath I have planted your interests in your mind I have given you an astounding imagination I have sewn hope into your soul, so that you never lose it I have walked with you through your childhood  and into the present, never leaving you or abandoning you I have protected you from permanent harm I have given you courage in the face of danger I have carried you when the world broke you I have strengthened you in your weakness I have healed you when you were sick I have given you many friends who love you I have given you many lessons, and although some were harsh and some were brutal, you survived and you kept your faith. I have given you wisdom I have given you grace I have given you mercy I have given you life I have given you joy I have given you victory I have given you glory I have given you a place in my Kingdom I have given you undying love

I won't abandon you I won't betray you I won't cast you out I won't steal your hope I won't cripple you I won't let evil consume you I won't let doubt overcome your faith I won't poison you I won't oppress you I won't enslave you I won't violate you I won't abuse you I won't destroy you I won't let bitterness dominate your thoughts I won't ever make hell your dwelling place I won't lock you in a cage I won't starve you I won't deny you my presence I won't deny you my infinite Kingdom Even if some of these things do in fact come to pass, just know that there is still evil in the world, and it has a will of its own. Just because you suffer, Just because you lose sometimes, Just because evil may strike you, Just because hate may harm you, Just because friends may abandon you, Just because your family may misunderstand you, Does not mean I have forsaken you It does not mean I don't value you It does not mean I

I will be with you in this journey to life eternal I will walk with you as you face darkness and lies.  I will carry you when evil knocks your feet from under you. I will talk to you as a voice of comfort if you are locked in a cage or are alone in the dark I will guide you like a compass guides ships when the stars are cloaked in clouds. I will rescue you from hate and the agents of prejudice I will protect you when you must be safe I will feed you in times of famine I will clothe you when your clothing becomes worn out I will heal your diseases and sickness I will forgive your sins I will purge all evil from your mind and spirit I will satisfy your thirst in droughts and deserts. I will lift your spirits in times of doubt I will give you courage in times of fear I will give you shelter during storms I will ensure that you never lose hope I will return your dreams when they are stolen I will give you refuge in times of oppression and persecution I will bring you joy and laughter when

     If you operate in secret, out of the spotlight of an overseer or authority, you can effectively escape accountability for your actions. Governments, agencies, institutions and ideological groups have known this for a long time.                  It allows a government or institution to escape consequences for actions of questionable ethics or ones that can raise moral objections from the public.         If there is no accountability for a government or agency then operations that can violate human rights or criminal activities or even more egregious affronts like crimes against humanity or war crimes may never even see the light of day, let alone have any of the perpetrators answer for them.        Rampant secrecy and lack of accountability allows systems that once were morally and ethically sound to be subverted and undermined by a few individuals who operate in secrecy and avoid accountability and consequences for their actions and operations.        Things as egregious as human

Information, in its simplest definition, is any substance or concept that informs a conscious entity of its existence and properties. Information can be abstract and not physical, or concrete and based on a quantifiable, measurable substance. Information definitely has a hierarchy and order to its arrangement in reality.        To start the discussion of the hierarchy of information, lets split this hierarchy into two distinct branches: The concrete hierarchy and the abstract hierarchy.                                                The Concrete Hierarchy The Concrete hierarchy of information is the hierarchy of substance and the physical measurable aspects of reality.  Let's start at the bottom of the hierarchy and work our way up.        At the bottom of the Concrete Hierarchy is the foundation of the physical universe. This is the realm of the planck length, the higgs field, quarks, neutrinos, gluons, and as we work our way up from the quantum realm we start seeing the physical

Terror and liberty are irreconcilable in any society or nation. If people are terrorized and terror has a solid foothold on the minds of the people of a country, than your society cannot lay claim to being free, especially if elements of that particular society are doing the terrorizing.    An example would be an unchecked media whose agenda would be suited by terrorizing its audience or a government whose interest is to consolidate power and control over a population.         Its hard to be free and terrorized at the same time. Terror breaks the mind, and can leave you unable to defend yourself and reduced to just basic actions or "autopilot" mode, with your mind's higher functions like reason or calculation severely compromised, especially in a civilian population not trained to handle terror, adversity, or the chaos of terrorism or war.        Unfortunately, when the media or government of a country is terrorizing its own citizens, it is usually with the intent of he

Today, while I was having a routine Coffee Stout indulgence at Bridge Brewing, I was talking to a staff member there about a range of different things, ranging from my job to just my usual intrigue. One of the topics that came up was debt, ranging from student loans to medical debt and other forms.    The conversation got me thinking about a principle one of my economic professor friends had exposed me to over the past few years. It was called the law of unintended consequences. To some it up, whenever you make an economic or social policy or practice a certain method of operating, there are always unintended consequences that you couldn't account for or anticipate, no matter how well thought out your plan and practice was or how much you thought the scenario was contained or controlled.        Greed is one of those things that can have massive and severely detrimental unintended consequences, and the person who is greedy is so shortsighted and impatient that they only focus on t

     For years, I was preoccupied with revenge. I felt I was treated extremely unfairly at various stages of my life. I was angry, and had no one and nothing to aim at in my anger.       I wanted to hit back at an enemy I couldn't see, had no idea who or where it was, nor did I even know with certainty whether or not it exists anyways. I felt reduced. I felt degraded. I felt funneled into poverty and government dependence. I even felt oppressed.      Throughout my situation, I faced many problems and obstacles in my attempts to make sense of and come to terms with what has happened to me over my life and in recent years.         One of those problems in this attempt to understand my circumstances is the great limitations of my vantage point on my own life, as well as my access to the information regarding my situation being quite limited and somewhat obscure.         I have no idea what happened to me or how deep the rabbit hole of my life goes. I have no ability to know a signific

It's not just agencies or governments that try to infiltrate and undermine societies and opposing systems. I am starting to lean toward the possibility that ideologies themselves have agents or representatives that infiltrate groups or societies, activate under certain stimuli, and then work towards completing the objectives of the ideas they represent.       This hypothesis is based on a presumption that I have had for a while, and that presumption is that complex ideas like ideologies and belief systems exist in a perfect conceptual form independently of human beings, and humans access them in literature and the works of previous thinkers, or they are the source of the ideas and access them through reason and/or the imagination.         I would argue that humans never "create" ideas outright. Instead, I would argue that ideas have always existed, and the human mind discovers and stumbles upon them. I have my reasons to suspect some complex ideas have agency and may be

Imprisoned in my mind I was crippled by my fear Like waking up from a nightmare I cried so many tears Even though I'm free now I am burdened by the pain Even though my hope's restored My losses may never be regained People say that being set free Should bring a man great joy But this sad liberty for me Comes with a past destroyed I feel as if I'd lost my youth I feel as if I'd lost a piece Of my dreams and hopes, to tell the truth This liberty does not bring peace I feel hunted down by void and fear I feel pursued by such a darkness here I feel as if this Liberation Is as fragile as stained glass windows here All it takes is one mistake And black agencies my freedom take All it takes is one mistake And my future and my dreams will brake This current liberation Of my spirit and my mind It's not as joyous as it is sorrowful My fear is it may be deprived My memories My grief They haunt me every day My greatest hope, my great relief Comes with the thought that I may be

Even heroes need heroes sometimes A saving force A champion of mercy The ancient heroes of antiquity Sometimes got into trouble Their arrogance blinded them Their hubris birthed their nemesis Their nemesis crippled and broke them What are common men like us to do When the strongest of us fall? Who can save the champions? Who can rescue the rescuers? Who can pay the price of conceit For the mightiest of men? The hero of heroes. The king of kings. The champion of champions Only He is strong enough to save the strong Only He is brave enough to save the brave Only He can conquer conquerors Destroy the destroyers Liberate the liberators When liberators fall from grace Only He has the sight to lead the blind His ears hear all the whispers Only he can heal the healers This champion of the weak Is also the savior of the strong For the strong rule the weak But righteousness lays low the strong The strength to destroy Cannot usurp The strength of mercy The strength to oppress the weak Does not s

     Some of you may be familiar with the Russian Matryoshka dolls. Those dolls inside of dolls inside of dolls inside of dolls and so on. I had a mental image of a universe with a similar principle wired in its nature. Like the Matryoshka dolls, this universe could be broken down in scale and proportion to an unlimited, infinite depth. When I was growing up, playing my Star Wars fantasy with the trees being galaxies and vehicles and toys were spaceships, I was fascinated by the scale of how small people would be on random objects if I could get an accurate proportion compared to actual galaxies. I realized you could fit an almost countlessly large number of people in one of my pretend toy spaceships, and an even larger countlessly large number of people in the tree-galaxy. Playing these games gave me the idea of a universe with true scale infinity.           Scale infinity is defined as the breaking down of existence into the infinitely small and the building up of existence int

       I think a lot. It's kind of obvious by now. I try to challenge myself and try to expand my horizons of knowledge and intellect. I can think pretty deep most of the time, no matter what state of mind I am in or what my mood is like.           I think my favorite part of deep thought is those moments when after a long time of contemplating something where my thoughts are hindered by a degree of limitations and I finally after much effort surpass those limitations and access realms of my mind once previously inaccessible to me.        These "thought barriers" sometimes seem unpenetratable, but every once in awhile I break one, and my mind is flooded with new ideas and new methods of comprehension of my existence and reality in general.      I felt like I broke one of these barriers this past winter, and it was euphoric to say the least. It is as if the confines of my mind and the limitations of my mental abilities melt away to an extent. Suddenly it felt like I gain

Every war starts in the mind. Before a single gunshot is fired, bomb is dropped, trench is dug, army is put together, the first shots fired of any war are mental ones. They all start at the conceptual level. That level of reality where information begins taking unique forms and estabishing meaning and reality to itself. Thats what a concept is; a verbal set of information representing a unique aspect of reality, whether abstract or concrete, that has a defined and established meaning to it. Fear is a concept in both its abstract definition and its concrete effects and consequences. So is hate. So is poverty. So is communism. So is Nazism. So is liberalism. So is conservatism. In order for us to combat a threat or beat an adversarial force, we have to define what the thing we are fighting is, catagorize and simplify it (to an extent), and come to a thorough and in-depth understanding of its nature, meaning, purpose, and objectives. Concept wars are hard to fight