Why are We So Quick to Blamestorm?

[Crush]

Nice thread idea, Jax.

I have noticed three more knee-jerk reactions:

1. The family of a deceased diver will blame anyone and everyone except the deceased;
2. Operators and patrons who have a strong presence on SB will always blame the deceased; and
3. Divers who play Russian roulette by executing ill-advised and dangerous dives blame "down-welling currents."

 

[koozemani]

You also have to look at who is active on this board. There is a relatively (IMO) strong feeling of personal responsibility advocated here, however this board is only a small sliver in the total number of divers worldwide, and within that sliver, there is a much smaller percentage of posters that are regularly active and vocal.

More and more, are we seeing a society where nothing is ever our fault, where regulation is needed to protect us from ourselves, and we must all conform to rules put in place to protect the weakest(read dumbest) link. I am anxiously waiting for the day when paper can only be sold with soft edges to protect the masses from the scourge of paper cuts.

I joined this board soon after competing my ow and was amazed at how little I really knew, and how much I had never thought of or considered. The importance of being self reliant, the you don't know what you don't know, being a good buddy and what that entails, owning and understanding your gear, trust me dives, and most recently Dandydon's crusade for personal CO testers, are all topics (I'm know there are several others that elude me at the moment) that I little or no understanding of.

There are too many (again IMO) "vacation" divers who have only a basic idea of what they're doing who rely entirely on the dm or guide to hold their hand and be there for them when they do something stupid through shear ignorance. I applaud those instructors who have high standards above and beyond the course minimums. It is entirely to easy to get certified, and once certified a diver is qualified for dives well beyond what I now know to be prudent. From what I've seen ow Certs are the fuzzy feel good about diving classes that attract people and sometimes give them a false sence of confidence in an unforgiving environment.

A non-diving friend who is looking to get certified in the near future continually questions why I am regularly taking classes for new Certs and what the point of them is. 'If not taking a deep diver class doesn't prevent me from going deep then why take it?' was one of these questions. Whether or not my answer convinced him, only time will tell.

Rant over. I know I wandered off topic, but the bottom line is that to many people are not self reliant either through ignorance or through the belief that someone will always be there for them. When this happens, the finger pointing begins. It is harder and harder for me to imagine scenarios where I would find myself in a diving accident that is completely 100% not my fault.

 

[freewillie]

Freewillie, I agree completely!!!!

But PLEASE, there comes a point where no matter how RIGHT you are, you are still DEAD!


Case in point -- a guy in a wheelchair was crossing a five-lane highway in the dark and was struck and killed by a car.

Yeah, wheelchairs are considered pedestrians, and while he wasn't in a crosswalk . . .

. . . he is still freaking DEAD!

No, the driver was not held responsible . . . but imagine out he felt.

My Dad used to say something very similar. "If you get killed in a car accident it doesn't matter that it was the other person's fault. You're still dead!"

The ability to look in the mirror and say, "Jeez, I'm such an idiot!" requires more maturity than IMO many "adults" have. Part of coming to Scubaboard is to learn from our mistakes. The actual ability to accept constructive criticism without taking it personally is a rare quality these days. Just look at how our threads deteriorate. The OP post a question. People start answering. Someone takes offense to another's post. Then the two go back and forth, often with very personal insults being traded.

In general it is easier to pass blame than to take personal responsibility. And it seems that society as a whole is adopting this philosophy. Ironically the internet also is to blame. It is so easy to post anonymously we can point fingers at someone's actions where we may not have said the same thing if we were having a conversation face to face.

 

[Crush]

I joined this board soon after competing my ow and was amazed at how little I really knew, and how much I had never thought of or considered.

+1. My experience as well. I am still learning.

There are too many (again IMO) "vacation" divers who have only a basic idea of what they're doing who rely entirely on the dm or guide to hold their hand and be there for them when they do something stupid through shear ignorance. I applaud those instructors who have high standards above and beyond the course minimums. It is entirely to easy to get certified, and once certified a diver is qualified for dives well beyond what I now know to be prudent. From what I've seen ow Certs are the fuzzy feel good about diving classes that attract people and sometimes give them a false sence of confidence in an unforgiving environment.

I agree that divers should progress beyond basic OW. However, I am not sure that there is any problem with "vacation" divers. What if someone honestly just wants to go diving a few days a year in a tropical destination? Such a person would not want to take additional courses, and those courses would do little good if the skills are not practiced, say, on a monthly basis. I say welcome the vacation divers - embrace them, keep an eye on them, make sure there is a good DM-to-vacation-diver ratio, and charge them accordingly so that my dives (which do not require hand-holding) are cheaper...

 

[Jax]

Nice thread idea, Jax.

I have noticed three more knee-jerk reactions:

1. The family of a deceased diver will blame anyone and everyone except the deceased;
2. Operators and patrons who have a strong presence on SB will always blame the deceased; and
3. Divers who play Russian roulette by executing ill-advised and dangerous dives blame [-]"down-welling currents."[/-] anyone and anything except their own lack of judgement.

May I suggest a small change?

 

[Crush]

Your friendly amendment is accepted!

 

[eelnoraa]

This is true -- but if you play this game as a scuba diver, you could be dead!!

It is not just America, also see this in some friends of mine who are Canadian, so it goes a lot more than just the legal system (which is borked, will agree with you there).

I am with you here. I feel "WTF" everytime I see people make an inrrersponsible choice and when thing go side way they blame everything else but themselves for the consequences. This kind of thinking is human natural at some point. But when the law system also supports it, and award this kind of people for this kind of behavior, we got the society we have today.

A very laughable example recently is a women get caught speeding 3 times in a hour, doing upward of 100MPH, blamed her car can go that fast with her feeling it. She said it out loud on TV without feeling ashame.

 

[Thalassamania]

A large part of the problem is that the diving industry trumpets how safe diving is and how easy it is and little you have to do to be able to go dive. Then, eventually, the reality rears it head, diving has real dangers, requires real study and practice and a moderate level of dedication. When that reality is realized after significant experience has been gained, the reality is dealt with, both in theory and in practice, but when it is driven home in the first few dives that the new diver makes, the diver has a natural, and reasonable, reaction to blame someone else, because, from all that they'd been taught, they should have had no problem(s).

 

[redacted]

I agree with one exception. When I rent something, I expect it to be defect free and fully operational. I expect the renter will at least have verified that is true and. better yet, demonstrate that to be so. A dive shop should inspect and maintain their rental (and training) gear to a higher standard than their own personal gear.

 

[koozemani]

I agree that divers should progress beyond basic OW. However, I am not sure that there is any problem with "vacation" divers. What if someone honestly just wants to go diving a few days a year in a tropical destination? Such a person would not want to take additional courses, and those courses would do little good if the skills are not practiced, say, on a monthly basis. I say welcome the vacation divers - embrace them, keep an eye on them, make sure there is a good DM-to-vacation-diver ratio, and charge them accordingly so that my dives (which do not require hand-holding) are cheaper...

I disagree and I think you are a poopoo head. (I couldn't help myself after Jax's post)

Diving is not like riding a bike. I will not say that diving is dangerous, but the environment is unforgiving. As you say, Remembering those basic ow skills 10 years and 20 dives later that are intended to allow you to survive what begins as something small is not something you can count on. And counting on the dm to a) be good if not great, b) have a low dm to diver ratio and c) be right beside you when you need them most is counting on an awful lot. As my 7 yr old likes to say "you need to take care of your own dang self"