Posted by SLANG on July 19, 2001 at 14:25:54:
In Reply to: Re: Chris and Seahunt posted by MHK on July 19, 2001 at 10:21:09:
Mike:
Are you calling DIR a technological advancement? I thought you guys shunned advanced technology as strokery.
“Computers . . . who needs ‘em; we’ll stick with tables. Give us 30 yr. old fin design, a hard-mount backplate and webbing like our Fathers used, and we’re good to go.”
That sure sounds more like technological “De-evolution” to me. Wait, that’s it! Come-on Mike, admit it. You were a big fan of DEVO back in NY, weren’t you? I mean, come-on, they were all about conformity; they always had identical gear configurations . . .
But seriously, I think you guys are missing the boat a little here. Now maybe Chris and Seahunt stray in their arguments (maybe it’s because things have gotten to the ridiculous point where you guys immediately say the opposite of one another, just to be contrary). The fact is, I think most of us “non-DIR” divers who have been at it for a while don’t really think that DIR is bad, or substandard, or even that its teachings have no applicability to us as CA divers. I’m willing to stipulate that a person going through GUE training courses would end up a well qualified diver (for CA or anywhere else, I imagine) – if they survived the course. That’s not at issue as far as I’m concerned.
I think what most experienced divers find annoying, is you guys go around saying that DIR/GUE is superior to everything out there, and if “you don’t dive our way, you’re doing it wrong.” DIR is not the ONLY way to make a successful dive. Your methods are good, and certainly necessary for going to extraordinary depths, miles underground. They are NOT, however, ESSENTIAL for diving 95% of the dives around the world. It’s better to be over trained, you say – I say some of it is unnecessarily burdensome and detracts from the joy of diving for me.
From what I’ve seen / heard at your DIR seminars, your philosophies and practices are not that different from my own, except for a few specific issues. If you guys wouldn’t come on so fanatical, I don’t think you’d alienate so much of the existing dive population. Of course, you then might not be so attractive to those newbies who are trying to set themselves apart as “superior” to other newbies – and we all know that the new diver market is what’s important when you’re the new kid (agency/manufacturer) on the block.
Let’s face it, experience is the #1 way to become a better diver. Ane whether you admit it or not, the fact that I haven’t died in the last 27 years of diving IS a fairly strong argument that DIR is not the ONLY way to dive. Sure, there is always more to be learned, and I’ve learned a lot from tech diving community, and continue to try to learn more. It’s just that, not all of it is applicable to the average dive.
SLANG
PS - I apologize if the DEVO reference is too old for everyone.