Arrogance and humility among divers

[The Chairman]

, but do not. It doesn't seem to keep some prominent folks on this board from accusing me of being one of those people who promotes "lies" .

I've been accused of the same, Bob. Teaching for another agency does not make you a PADI basher.

 

[Bob DBF]

If I run into an arrogant diver, the first thing I do is ask if they are from New Jersey.

The first thing one should do if running into arrogance is to figure out if you are too sensitive, and if the offender is actually trying to be arrogant. I wound up with two excellent buddys because I looked past they were from New Jersey, or their arrogance, whichever applies more, and learned what kind of person and diver they were.


Bob
Has, at times, been seen as arrogant by some.

 

[rjgiddings]

I see that ego puffing pretty rarely anymore with scuba...seems like they've moved on - or maybe I have. I saw it too with fencing ( epee, foil, and sabre ) back in the 90's. I'm at a point now with diving where the folks on the boat are all pretty calm and realistic with each other. If there was an Alpha on that charter, I'd avoid them like the plague. Mind you their diving skills could be fantastic, it's just their personality that rubs me the wrong way.

 

[Chilly_Diver]

Ive caught myself getting excited telling someone about a recent dive, new equipment etc. and had to consciously tone it down for fear of appearing like an egomaniacal diver. I think sometimes we get caught up in our passion and forget how others may interpret it.

 

[northernone]

Ive caught myself getting excited telling someone about a recent dive, new equipment etc. and had to consciously tone it down for fear of appearing like an egomaniacal diver. I think sometimes we get caught up in our passion and forget how others may interpret it.

I like this.

 

[The Chairman]

had to consciously tone it down for fear of appearing like an egomaniacal diver.

Yeah, it's OK to be egomaniacal as long as you don't appear to be egomaniacal.

 

[Chilly_Diver]

Yeah, it's OK to be egomaniacal as long as you don't appear to be egomaniacal.

Well... we are divers....

 

[gypsyjim]

Seriously, if we were not all just a bit eccentric, a bit off kilter, and somewhat abnormal, there is no way that we would be spending the time, effort and $ that we do, attempting to breath in an environment that is designed to kill air breathing, warm bodied apes such as us.

Still, there is a bit more than just a fine, invisible line between enthusiasm and arrogance.

 

[Compressor]

My first exposure to the GUE happened about the same time I joined ScubaBoard ... but the source was local. My ex-wife and I were doing a dive at a local site and noticed a couple of fellows with some gear that looked different than what we were using. So my wife asked them what it was. Rather than answer, they simply snickered, told us we were accidents waiting to happen, and advised us to "ditch the snorkel". We later discovered they were part of a larger group of GUE divers who met regularly to dive this site, and that they had a reputation for being vocal to OW students about how badly they were being trained. The rest of the dive community referred to them as "the posse".

Fast forward 15 years ... only one of those fellows is even still diving. The rest are now off being "the best" at other recreational activities, and I don't doubt that they're still exhibiting the same attitudes in those sports as they did with scuba diving.

I don't think that GUE, in and of itself, encourages arrogance ... I think rather that it attracts the sort of personality that's prone to it ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Nothing worse than an arrogant instructor filled with hubris who can't teach either as the ego prevents he/she from teaching well.

If I run into an arrogant diver, the first thing I do is ask if they are from New Jersey.

Not nice. I am from NJ and as are many here on SB.

 

[Jack Hammer]

I think a lot of the arrogance, like many things, is more a mistaken case of poor communication skills.