Disturbing internet article on dir and attitude to non dir

I stumbled onto this article while looking for info on GUE UTD AND DIR techniques and improvement skills. The attitude that unless you are DIR you are a danger and hazzard to you your bubby and the universe is think is unacceptable. I had a lot of respect for those who excelled in the finer forms of diving. Now after reading this I dont know.



Here is a some of the content


Controversy and "strokes"
The core of the controversy surrounding DIR is the phrase itself. If a group is DIR, then all who are not doing things the DIR way are 'Doing it Wrong', DIW. The use of the term 'stroke' to describe non-DIR divers as idiots has exacerbated tensions.[11]

“ [P]ossibly the most important piece of wisdom in the diving world, and is something we should all apply to all of our diving. It is, simply, 'Don't dive with strokes.'
The term 'stroke' refers to someone who, knowing there is a better system, chooses to dive in a less than optimal way. It applies to those instructors who encourage students (who know no better) to exercise Personal Preference, in order to sell more equipment; it applies to those who don't plan their dives; those who dive beyond their abilities; who dive deep on air; who take unnecessary risks; who do big dives using unfamiliar gear; whose only reason for diving is depth.

Diving with strokes moves us into an area where our safety is no longer in our own hands. Strokes are sometimes highly 'qualified'. Often they seem very confident - usually because they have no concept of the danger they are getting themselves, and you, into.[12]
”


Strokery: the condition of being a non-DIR diver; statements supporting non-DIR points of view
Strokeslamming: severe criticism of non-DIR divers or their opinions




Some one please tell me that I am seeing this the wrong way.

I am trying to find the link again.

This tells me the water belongs to those who have no more to learn and the rest are trespassers. If you are not a semi truck driver you have no right on the road.


HERE IS THE LINK

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doing_It_Right

I am still really new to this all but let me defend the mindset and the philosophy as best I can at my level (which is pre GUE training, as a stroke if you will).

First, I have to dispel the myth that DIR divers are unwelcoming and mean. They are not at all! I have learned alot from many DIR divers, both here on SB and in the real world. Never am I told by them, "this is the right way and the only way." Instead they always take the time to explain how they dive, and why they dive that way. I can take it or leave it, but I have yet to listen and not learn something and appreciate the thought that goes into the diving philosophy.

Second, DIR is a philosophy. It is not a gear setup, or a deco procedure, or just more focussed buddy diving. It is all encompassing, and as such all aspects are equally important. That being said, since the philosophy is so team oriented it does make it difficult to be DIR and not dive with other philosophy minded divers. I have read the older articles that refer to non-DIR divers as strokes, but I have never been called one nor have I heard it actually used in the DIR community today (OK maybe only once, but clearly as a joke).

Third, the people involved in DIR are very committed to excellence. Now, that isn't to say non-DIR divers are not, but consistently you find in the DIR community people that are always striving to be the best divers possible, and they truly believe that the DIR philosophy is the way to achieve their goals. I feel this way, but many do not, and that doesnt make them bad people or bad divers (in fact I know a few amazing divers that are not DIR).

Much of what you read stems from articles written by George Irvine III who helped form GUE and was heavily involved in WKPP. He is a very passionate man, and if you ever get a chance to watch the DIR 3 videos you will see him in action. He is blunt and forward and opinionated, but fully believes that there is only one good way to dive, and he defends it with very sound arguments.

Read everything you can, but please dont allow yourself to see only the negative. Instead I advise you to read the GUE books, including Doing it Right: The Fundamentals of Better Diving by Jarrod Jablonski. It's a great book!. Then if you have questions ask them of GUE or here and see how you feel about the whole system. You will find it is not all about DIR vs strokes, and I think you will learn alot in the process--I did!

-ddd

KWS:

I stumbled onto this article while looking for info on GUE UTD AND DIR techniques and improvement skills. The attitude that unless you are DIR you are a danger and hazzard to you your bubby and the universe is think is unacceptable. I had a lot of respect for those who excelled in the finer forms of diving. Now after reading this I dont know.

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I cannot speak for all DIR divers, only myself and my own experiences. I have 2 UTD certs, and working on Tech 1 now. I have never heard any of this language or seen this attitude from any of the divers or instructors I have personally encountered.

I do personally believe that DIR and Team Diving in general is safer and saner, which is why I pursue it. It is also more fun if you ask me.

I did a dive last weekend in 4 feet of murk and 46 degree temps with a non DIR diver from scuba board. My new scuba board buddy had heard about DIR, and we had some discussions and during planning we discussed what my resoponses would be to certain situations. Despite me using a bottom timer with Ratio Deco(min deco profile), I still hung with him for 3 minutes at 15 feet as he was following his computer.

You have to consider the source. Who "owns" wikipedia?

Cheers,

Justin

Yawn.

It's the internet.

Rainer:

Yawn.

It's the internet.

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You mean to tell me that everything that we read on the internet isn't true?
Yawn(Contagious...doesn't DIR diving require responses to command signals?).

KWS:

I stumbled onto this article while looking for info on GUE UTD AND DIR techniques and improvement skills. The attitude that unless you are DIR you are a danger and hazzard to you your bubby and the universe is think is unacceptable. I had a lot of respect for those who excelled in the finer forms of diving. Now after reading this I dont know.

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One negative article and you dismiss everything DIR?

Wait til you check this out: Aquanaut Mailing List Archive Service

Search for Irvine

That's not DIR, that's just George.

There. I fixed the article in question. Happy?

Rainer:

There. I fixed the article in question. Happy?

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vshearer:

That's not DIR, that's George.

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Yea but I know a fair few people who read his posts back in the day and decided against DIR based on his attitude...

I just don't get why someone might meet someone who is DIR and nasty (or read an article making fun of non-DIR divers) and therefore go 'well I'm not going to be DIR because this guy was a tosser". I had an incredibly arrogant lecturer in one subject of uni but what he was teaching was very good, if I had thought "well I'm not going to listen to him because of his personality problems" then I would have missed out on learning a lot...