In their first years of diving, a very high percentage of divers experience what I call "learned helplessness," a condition that belies the quality of their training. I know because I was an example.
When I went into my first "real world" diving experiences, I was pretty good on the basic OW skills. My OW instruction was admittedly spotty, but I did AOW immediately after that, and that instructor was great. I was a real whiz at planning and calculating dives with tables. I could set up my gear just fine. My first couple of years of diving were in Cozumel, and like everyone else, I handed my gear to the DM as I got on the boat, and he set it up for me as we went to the dive site. Then we did DM-led multi-level dives.
I learned on my very first dive there that the tables were worthless on dives like that. I bought a computer as soon as I got home. Of course, none of my instruction had even mentioned computers, so I was on my own to learn how to use it. I as pretty studious, but it still took me quite a while to get the true hang of it all. How to plan a day of diving with the computer was not in the manual, so I didn't know how to do that. If I had continued that kind of diving, I would not have had to learn how to plan anything. I could have just followed the DM and then recorded the results from my computer into my log book.
After a couple years of diving, I did my first dives in Florida, and on my first, we were almost to the dive site when I finally realized that the DM was not going to set my gear up for me. As I scrambled to get it done, it became obvious how much I had forgotten. Veterans watching me struggle would have shaken their heads in disgust. I was also on my own with the dives/ Where should I go? How long should I stay?
Looking at me struggle in those first dives in Florida, you might conclude that my OW and AOW instruction really sucked, but I was really just fine when I started my diving life. It was only after a couple years of learned helplessness that I became the wreck I was then.
When I went into my first "real world" diving experiences, I was pretty good on the basic OW skills. My OW instruction was admittedly spotty, but I did AOW immediately after that, and that instructor was great. I was a real whiz at planning and calculating dives with tables. I could set up my gear just fine. My first couple of years of diving were in Cozumel, and like everyone else, I handed my gear to the DM as I got on the boat, and he set it up for me as we went to the dive site. Then we did DM-led multi-level dives.
I learned on my very first dive there that the tables were worthless on dives like that. I bought a computer as soon as I got home. Of course, none of my instruction had even mentioned computers, so I was on my own to learn how to use it. I as pretty studious, but it still took me quite a while to get the true hang of it all. How to plan a day of diving with the computer was not in the manual, so I didn't know how to do that. If I had continued that kind of diving, I would not have had to learn how to plan anything. I could have just followed the DM and then recorded the results from my computer into my log book.
After a couple years of diving, I did my first dives in Florida, and on my first, we were almost to the dive site when I finally realized that the DM was not going to set my gear up for me. As I scrambled to get it done, it became obvious how much I had forgotten. Veterans watching me struggle would have shaken their heads in disgust. I was also on my own with the dives/ Where should I go? How long should I stay?
Looking at me struggle in those first dives in Florida, you might conclude that my OW and AOW instruction really sucked, but I was really just fine when I started my diving life. It was only after a couple years of learned helplessness that I became the wreck I was then.