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 p...

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 t...

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, tra...

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...

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...

         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 ...