DIR Feedback

[The Chairman]

I have also taken Non-DIR divers to task for their name calling as well. It is not confined to DIR divers alone, and most seem to be able to handle diversity well. Still, as reports of GI's intolerance spread and then we see it in real life in his followers... well it reminds me of yet another anecdote...

A nun approached the Mother Superior in a tizzy...

"Oh Mother Superior, the words that come out of the men working on the new Fellowship hall are just terrible"

"My dear sister" replied Mother Superior in a reassuring tone" these are men of the world, and they are used to calling a spade, a spade...

"Oh no dear Mother, he called it a &%&#$$ shovel!"

It don't matter what you call it, we all know it for what it is...

 

[roakey]

Originally posted by NetDoc
Indeed, we had our own discussion where a theory had been given as a fact, and it was proved to be false.

Give it a rest, Pete. It wasn't "proven" false by any means, I just gave up trying to give you singing lessons.

Roak

 

[Uncle Pug]

Originally posted by NetDoc
I would have to say this has abated quite a bit since the summer, still some wounds are hard to heal.

Bruised feelings heal slow....
But quoting Johnny Rambo:
"Let it go.... Let - it - go!"

 

[Uncle Pug]

...was to explore the reactions of folk to the DIR philosophy...

Some of those reactions obviously involve emotion rather than reason....

And it is probably important to explore those emotional reactions just as much as the reactions that come from reason, discovery and experience....

To separate the two sources of reaction is critical to clear thinking on the issue....

To confuse emotional reaction with rational reaction can only lead to wrong conclusions....

The proponents of DIR often try to argue the rational side of the issue but do so in ways that engender an adverse emotional reaction in those who feel threatened by the exclusive claims of the "Doing it Rightists."

This is very unfortunate....

I would like to be able to address the ration side of the issue but feel that unless we deal with the emotional side first the discussion will not be fruitful....

So I am not asking those of you who have a problem with DIR to give a rational arguement against it.... yet....

What I would like to see (list form with numbers is easiest for me to understand) are your true emotional biases against DIR and the presentation of DIR....

Fire away.... I really want to try to understand....

 

[Mr.Bubbles]

All I have to say; if you don’t like the way I dive. Don't dive with me. I may not follow DIR way, but I believe I dive safely. But the one question I have is. WHO CARES? sheze...... I have see people fussen about this over and over. You want to dive DIR, do it. If you don’t dive it the more power to you. I have enough problems with my wife telling me what to do with out some one else trying to tell me.
:arrow:

 

[neil]

I have just a few things to say re DIR, if I may.

1-Having read a lot of GI3's rantings on other lists, I have to say that no matter how good or smart he is, he's an a-hole. I agree with Netdoc, it IS how you say it. This guy alone would make me hesitate to have anything to do with DIR if he were the only source for info.

2-All the gear and stuff: great ideas, very well thought out and suited for the diving they (WKPP) do. HOWEVER, if you take regular gear that most people use and use it to it's best and fullest, it works just as well. You can achieve proper trim with a BC; you can share air effectively with an octo; you can dive with a computer, etc. (And I'm NOT talking about those extreme 90 bazillion hour cave expeditions, just plain old OW diving.) There are many of us who can dive with almost any old crap as long as the reg gives air and the BC doesn't leak.

3-PHILOSOPHY- I love this one. My philosophy of diving is this: I strap on some gear, go down and look at cool stuff and come back up before it's too late. This is a sport, not a religion, and does not require a core set of beliefs to be
participated in. Safety protocols and systems are not philosophies.

Bottom line for me is that DIR fits the bill for tech diving, and will certainly work, but is not necessary for rec diving. If ya likes it, do it. If not, go diving anyway. There simply are no absolutes for equipment or technique in diving.
My 2 cents, thanks for listening.

Neil

 

[Rick L]

Amen to that brother!!!!
If you are just recreational diving the dir uniform is optional!!
I see nothing wrong with it looks like great gear!
But not for the diving I do. I dont need it.
I dont need to be able to take apart and repair my regulator. while while riding the crest of a tidal wave blindfolded hehe.
If my reg fails(it never has) I will use my air2 or head to the surface. Or grab my buddys extra reg!
I have to admit they go some cool places. but right now its
not the diving i want to do.
my 2 cents Rick L

 

[Tavi]

Hi,

When I was new on the boards there were a few DIR advocates here. The gear configuration and philosophy made sense But, the attitudes of a couple of these people, I wanted nothing to do with! They often came off with "I'm right, and if you don't dive like this you're stupid". Some here were called Idiots. They often baited people and then Jumped all over them for their response. Often going way off topic from the thread, which started with a simple question.

like picking someone apart to make themselves look better.

I don't care to deal with people like this. If this is DIR I want nothing to do with it.

This was only a couple of the DIR people not all of them.

Since then,
The crowd has changed around here. Everyone has been quite civil. The DIR crowd has been helpful and imformative. People are better able to hear when they don't have to prepare their defense for the next attack, counter-attack, attack. counter-attack.......etc.

DIR is making more and more sense to me.

 

[Uncle Pug]

You are right Neil....
They are the implementations of Philosophy....
We all have our own Philosophy for diving....
But don't confuse Philosophy for religion....
That is a red herring....
And you guys do say, "Amen Brother!" to one another

The core of DIR philosophy from what I've learned so far...
Is Safety:

Elimination of failure points in gear as much as possible....
Elimination of failure points in personel as much as possible....
Gearing to mitigate failures that do occur....
Training to mitigate failures that do occur....

While this Philosophy was developed for the extreme of the WKPP explorations it does definitely work for all technical diving.
The actual equipment configurations, training regimines and dive proceedures developed for WKPP also are great for all technical diving....

They do have some advantage for more advanced recreational diving but when you get to the kind of diving that most do...
Your philosophy gets most home with the minimum of expense, training and gear.... while providing the joy of scuba diving!

I am fully aware of the ego bloating that goes on with DIR *training* on the internet....

I am also personally aware of the ego busting that goes on with DIR training in a GUE Tech class ;-)

I used to be a really good diver....

 

[Rick Murchison]

Most all of the DIR heartburn comes from the term itself, which implies that if you are not in full compliance with whatever "Doing it Right" means, then you are "Not Doing it Right." This, of course, is utter horse manure, but is nevertheless the position taken by many in the DIR community, and vociferously expounded by Irvine in the most immodest and condescending terms. A simple name change to "DWGS" (Doing What George Says) or "DIGW" (Doing it the GUE Way) or anything else that allows some lattitude for other ways to be different without being "not Doing it Right" would go a long way towards resolving the animosity. And DIR devotee protestations that they aren't insisting everyone else is wrong are a smoke screen - for by their name alone they are proclaiming that if it's not DIR then it's not "Right" - which means "Wrong." Until either the "DIR" name or the rules of the English language are changed, those of us who choose to believe that doing it right isn't necessarily DIR will find the name objectionable. Especially when there are so many DIR devotees who do believe and insist that everything else is wrong.
Rick