Why are We So Quick to Blamestorm?

I’ve noticed a trend lately – that posters seem to want to blame somebody in an incident.

• – The properly certified diver dives beyond his experience – people quick to blame the instructor
• – The diver that had a not-good incident on a liveaboard – quick to blame the dive op
• – The diver surfaced alone from a group dive – people quick to place blame on the divermaster and on buddy
• – My rental BC leaks – blaming the operator
• – Free flow – a stranger helps, diver quick to blame the dive guide for not ‘being there’

What happened to INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY ?!?!?!

Seriously, people, what is going on??? :huh:

Blaming an instructor for what a dive student does after training makes about as much sense as blaming a driving instructor for the deaths of the teenagers who decide to drive drunk or at high speeds.


The liveaboard op did pretty much everything they were supposed to do. Why make it their fault because you have unrealistic expectations?


The buddy system – it works when you are BOTH good buddies. The dive master I not a baby sitter – S/he is not able to be everywhere at every time. YOU are responsible for checking your equipment and diving safely. Your buddy carries some spare gas and can lend a hand, but s/he is NOT your life-saver.


Even if you rent the equipment, you are responsible for the equipment checks. If something isn’t right, your first question should be, “how did I fail to catch that in the pre-dive check?”


Those of you that go on dives and ‘stick close to the divemaster’ are diving “trust-me” dives. The guide / divemaster is monitoring everyone, which means you get a slice of his or her attention.

Seriously, can we all take a huge dose of reality and realize we have responsibility here???

it's the American way and not limited to SCUBA. No matter what the situation Americans always someone else to pay or to take the blame. Hence ambulance chasing lawyers, they know their market well.

Actually, I've noticed what I see as an abnormally high rate of accepting responsbility for ones actions on SB. I'm not disputing your observations or arguing that it can't improve, but compared to the general population I think it is better here. And kudos to those who do accept responsiblity and post their experiences anyway for all of us to learn from them. I do agree with your general point and it makes me sick when I see the blame game going on. I would hope that all of us would take responsilbity for our mistakes, but I don't hold out much hope that we will ever come to that. Too many people simply cannot properly self-reflect or they think they are going to win the lottery when they sue someone and they get a huge award.

It has become pretty typical behavior, at least in our country. It's not limited to diving.

That may be true, but in ANY sport that pushes the boundaries -- rock climbing, sky diving, spelunking, mountain biking -- you HAVE to take responsibility for yourself!

Failure to do so contributes incredibly to increased risk of injury or death.

I salute those that accept responsibility and ask for feedback, but it seems they are very few. Nor is it the diver involved that is always the 'blamer', the blamers come out of the woodwork when there is an incident.

I suggest the first question in any discussion should be "what was the diver's responsibility?"

....and here on SB it seems to be the accepted policy. Try to point out some self accountability, and it won't be tolerated. Its become "warm milk, cookies, and a snugly blanket".

I don't think it is a new phenomena or that it is restricted to any one geographical location. I think it appears to be more prevalent in the US only because the US court system seems to be more tolerant of frivolous lawsuits.

While I agree it is prevalent in the US, should it behoove us as divers to stress and accept personal accountability?

After all, the consequences of failure to do so are pretty darned drastic.

I'd say it's human nature to play the blame game. Can't be avoided no matter how much it's b!tched about. I think it's more productive to note the positives. I too have seen A LOT of posters on SB who have come forward to share experiences and ask opinions. Sometimes the poster will get chewed out and still remain humble and open. These people start great discussions, and I've learned a lot from many of them. To me, that is much more deserving of attention than the common pass the buck that's to be expected. Frankly, I agree with t-mac.

Additionally, even those who play the blame game have opened up a situation for the board to discuss, and from what I've seen at least the finger-pointing tends to be quickly curtailed by the experienced and vocal members.

Jax, how in the world can you have over 31,000 posts??? That is just mind boggling to me I had never noticed that before, what is the record?