Shift in Thinking

Some years ago, as I first started going deeper, staying longer, hoarding regulators, etc. I noticed a cultural oddity around me that I found it hard to wrap my head around. The Tech vs. Rec divide.

FOR EXAMPLE:
Recreational Course Director who reads all the magazines, certifies hundreds of competent students a year, attends all the shows, is as just as pretty in the water as a hawksbill turtle, been diving all over the world for decades, and should bloody well know better:
"Those tech divers are just macho hooligans with a death wish. There's nothing to see where they go, the way they dive is dangerous, and their back-inflate BCs will float you face-down in the water."

Techie who could have Sheck Exley award but stopped logging ages ago, more hours on 1/2 dozen different CCRs than most dive clubs have combined dives, first deco stops usually far deeper than anyone else ever even goes, been a push diver on expedition teams in places you've never heard of, and should bloody well know better:
"80s divers can't even swim worth a damn, much less dive right. If they aren't going to do it properly why don't they just save the money for their travel BCs and take up knitting?"

I couldn't understand it because I was perfectly happy and having a roaring good time in either environment. 200 feet down and 1000 feet back in a cave? Awesome. 30 feet down on a reef watching a secretary blenny for 1/2 an hour? Awesome.

I figured the Rec person (from the example above) just didn't want their lack of understanding about the tech world to take away from their well-deserved feeling of expertise. And the Techie... well, perhaps they simply couldn't remember back to when they could only dive once or twice a year and clearing their mask was still a challenge. What was wrong with straddling both camps, I thought? It's one sport, right?

Now here's the trouble and why I bring this all up...
I've been diving for only about 12 year now. Instructing (recreationally) for 8. Tech diving for about 9, cave diving for 7. Been on a rebreather for about 6. I don't know when it happened, I don't think it was a single event or just the buildup of DMing boatload after boatload of certs...

Recreational divers annoy the hell out of me.

I'm still perfectly happy with a 30 foot reef bimble (at least, I think I probably would be... it's been a while since I've done one). I don't HAVE to go into deco to be happy on a dive. But listening to recreational prattle puts my teeth on edge.

I don't like this about myself. I was a newbie not that long ago. I still am a newbie in a million ways. And I've got to figure out a way past the prejudice.

I ask this of both sides of the fence: wondering if I'm alone here.

I think you already have your answers sitting in front of you.

Rec divers in general look at the tech guys as thrill seekers. Rec Instructors look at us as a threat.

Tech divers in general don't have any particular problem with rec diving, but are appalled by the lack of understanding of things like: how gear actually works, true deco theory etc. And it annoys the hell out of us when a Rec instructor is giving someone really bad gouge while trying to act like a subject matter expert.

There are "know it all's" on both sides of the fence, which I think is what really starts the banter back and forth. The sooner people realize that they are not the subject matter expert on all things diving, the sooner they can just shut up and dive. When it comes down to it, do you really care what someone else's opinion is of you or your diving preferences? I know that I could care less.

oya:

Recreational divers annoy the hell out of me.

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Is this annoying....Is this annoying....I'm not touching you.... I'm not touching you....

Maybe a bit Aristotle to get over thyself:

"Far best is he who knows all things himself.
Good, he that hearkens when men counsel right;
But he who neither knows, nor lays to heart
Another's wisdom, is a useless wight"

tomfcrist:

Rec divers in general

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I don't mean to single you out, Tom, but this attitude is our problem. We see one or two rec knowitalls and we stereotype the rest as being just like them. The reverse is also true.

As humans, we like to categorize just about everything. It simplifies our lives if we can label people, situations, places and gear quickly. Unfortunately, we often rely on anecdotal evidence rather than empirical and our sample size is inadequate and rather extreme. In other words, we tend to extrapolate from a few that are not representative of the population which means our resultant bias is anything but reasonable. In addition, most people tend to trust their biases over reality to the point that when we observe someone in the stereotyped group act reasonably, we simply pass that off as an anomaly. If you've ever caught yourself, or someone else remark "You're not like the rest", then you know what I'm talking about. In reality, they probably are like the rest and we are out of touch with reality.

The divide between rec and tec is mostly hype then. But why the hype? It's my opinion that it was first used to sell gear."If you want to be a real diver, then you have to buy or dive _______." Wow, what a powerful, albeit deceitful, way to sell gear. There's also the negative approach: "If you want to be a stroke, you'll dive that..." Unfortunately, the hype sounded sexy to a few, so they used the hype just to justify their own gear/training decisions. Ultimately, it gives way to the "If I don't sell, dive or teach it, then it must be crap" mentality that I often find in diving.

Me? Like most people (what an assumption!), I just don't care how you dive or how you perceive my diving. Most of us view the dive community without a jaundiced eye and are here to have fun. Haters always be hatin', and that's OK for them. It's not how I roll, bro!

I totally get it Pete.

Preception is everything, thus the way I should have worded that is...Most rec divers that I interact with---

... there is no fence ... the divide between "tech" and "rec" is pretty much self-imposed, based on personal preferences. This is true in pretty much every recreational activity. Take skiing, for example ... there are those who prefer skiing the groomed slopes, those who prefer moguls, and those who prefer making their own tracks in the back country. None of them can truly understand why the others have the preferences they have, and consider themselves somehow having better skills, or better judgment, or better ... something.

Fact is, it's a recreational activity ... we all do it for pretty much the same reasons. The rest is small stuff ... and the only "fences" that exist are the ones we create to rationalize the choices we make ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

tomfcrist:

Preception is everything, thus the way I should have worded that is...Most rec divers that I interact with---

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It's probably, "Most rec divers that get my attention..."

Well, it's all about ego. Luckily I don't care much about other divers ego :cool2: I just want to have fun down there. Don't care what it's called by whom. Makes dive life a lot easier.

I dislike strongly held opinions based on a complete lack of information in all walks of life

I really enjoy being on a boat with a bunch of people who are thoroughly excited about what they are doing and what they are seeing, regardless of what kind of diving they are doing. I do see poorly thought-out gear configurations and wince a little, and I do get exasperated -- really -- when somebody blows my photo by rototilling nearby. But I am rarely upset with the diver; I am upset with the instructors with whom that diver has interacted, who have clearly not shown what is possible and encouraged them to reach for it.

TSandM:

I dislike strongly held opinions based on a complete lack of information in all walks of life

I really enjoy being on a boat with a bunch of people who are thoroughly excited about what they are doing and what they are seeing, regardless of what kind of diving they are doing. I do see poorly thought-out gear configurations and wince a little, and I do get exasperated -- really -- when somebody blows my photo by rototilling nearby. But I am rarely upset with the diver; I am upset with the instructors with whom that diver has interacted, who have clearly not shown what is possible and encouraged them to reach for it.

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I think the instructor development needs more developing.

I've seen some amazing classes working on dive boats. like an entire class of advanced students having a runaway ascent from 100 feet, having to rescue multiple people from drowning because they just really didn't know how to properly operate their equipment. Once I saw the instructor and all his students descending by turning over and kicking like crazy to get to depth. Granted I know that's a small percentage, but in the small percentage certifies 200 divers each that number of poorly prepared students becomes pretty big.