The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
Rly? I see people doing skills automatically all the time. Mask clearing, equalizing ears, staying neutral... divers hone almost all the skills they are taught on every dive. No CESA, no R&R BCD, but most of the skills are used every dive.Doing skills and having the desire to do them well are hugely different.
Thinking about this, there are many, many tasks that have been made easier over the years. All of my term papers and essays were written by hand back in high school (I graduated in '75). I believe I typed my final one and that took far, far longer. Now students have word processors on their PCs that check spelling and even grammar. Does that mean creative writing has been "watered down"? In Chemistry, we used slide rules to calculate molar volumes and whatnot. Does the use of a calculator make it watered down or are we 'overreacting'??? My 2017 Kia drives far, far nicer than my 1967 Cortina ever could. Has driving been dumbed down? No, but it's certainly been improved.
We are clever people. We do something and then figure out how we can do it better and/or more easily. My OW classes today are nothing like the ones when I first became an instructor. They are easier on the student, and yet I produce far, far better students than I did back then. My standards have not been watered down, but my classes have certainly evolved and I believe for the better.