What does "Experience" really mean?

[scubadada]

Yes, but how many yearssss?

Hi Cave Diver,

11 years, 290 dives in the last 5 years, 92 dives last year. Does that help you make a judgement?

Good diving, Craig

 

[Cave Diver]

Hi Cave Diver,

11 years, 290 dives in the last 5 years. Does that help you make a judgement?

Good diving, Craig

Craig,

Actually I was joking about the years part, because that's how most people qualify their experience.

Your original answer was perfect in regards to giving a true indication of "experience."

Regards,

John

 

[drydiver]

As a newly certified diver I always ask potential dive buddies about their experience. I learned the hard way that years and number of dives alone may be deceiving indicators. I think of "experience" now in many ways:

# of dives per year for how many years and when was the last dive
# of dives on current/various equipment setups
Variety of conditions, locations
Exposure to learning opportunities (either formal classes or informal mentoring)
Exposure to diver/equipment error/malfunction

in my opinon, exerience indicators as mentioned determine the difference between someone "who dives" and is a "diver"

I am not saying one is better than the other, everyone embraces diving at their own level . . . however I think it is important to know where your new buddy fits into the spectrum of experience

Donna

 

[Cave Diver]

Good answer Donna. Your reply parallels another thread that I may start later, but wanted to stimulate some discussion first.

Welcome to the board and to the underwater world!

 

[scubadada]

Craig,

Actually I was joking about the years part, because that's how most people qualify their experience.

Your original answer was perfect in regards to giving a true indication of "experience."

Regards,

John

Hey John,

I've got to stop being so touchy, ScubaBoard can do that to you sometimes.

Best wishes, good diving, Craig

 

[Cave Diver]

No worries. A few of my posts have been misintepreted in the past, that's why I clarified.

 

[HowardE]

How about the places that say, "more than 50 years of combined experience" - what the heck does that mean?

 

[Puffer Fish]

Craig,

Actually I was joking about the years part, because that's how most people qualify their experience.

Your original answer was perfect in regards to giving a true indication of "experience."

Regards,

John

CD, I don't believe that years or even dives mean that much, after a certain level. That is because one cannot tell the skill or quality from a number count. It also does not indicate how capable they are for some specific set of diving conditions. The north east and far west diving comes to mind, but there are tons of other areas that require a specific set of skills.

However, if you are divng say Puget sound or the jersey wrecks, for example... experience in those respective environments is the only experience one should count..if you happen to be diving there.

2,000 dives in the Bonaire would not be of any more value (in general) than 100 divers there.

Still for all us old guys, it is all we have left...mister newbie..

 

[Puffer Fish]

How about the places that say, "more than 50 years of combined experience" - what the heck does that mean?

Howard, that would be me in another decade...

 

[geokr]

So I think "experience" needs a combination of time, a steady increase in the challenge and variety of experiences and a mature and open minded atttiude that lets you integrate the new experiences into your overall view of things. The last part is perhaps the most important. Some people are extremely resitant to learing and or are extremely rigid and unwilling to adapt. It takes an incredible amount of experience to even have a hope of changing that.

Though my scuba experience is limited my life experience is not. The answer above best states, in my opinion, what experience brings to any environment or situation. It's what you've learned from experience that matters. L-E-A-R-N-E-D. Experience means nothing if you don't learn from it. Second to experience is how you apply what you've learned from experience for the benefit of yourself and others.