Standards that we ... as an industry that wants to self-regulate ... define for ourselves. Granted, that's broad, but consider the brouhaha 20 years ago about the recreational use of nitrox. What broke the impasse, and made the industry as a whole finally decide that it was OK? I submit it was an agreed-upon set of standards that we ... as a dive industry ... imposed upon ourselves. That doesn't mean that individuals don't exceed those standards ... but it does mean that we, as an industry, promote those standards as acceptably safe.
Same logic applies with ...
That's my point, who's to say what is reasonable and what is not? Who is to say what depth I can dive to on-air safely? Isn't this a personal choice? If not, who's choice should it be? Who is to set the "standards?" Forgive me, but I find it really difficult hearing lectures on the dangers of deep-air, when the same people often giving these lectures dive in wrecks and caves. Risk is risk, one particular brand of risk is not necessarily preferable to another.
I don't recall anyone dictating to you or anyone else what depth you can dive to on air. Frankly, I don't care. What I
do care about is what we promote on a public forum where thousands ... if not tens of thousands ... of lesser trained and skilled divers are being told that this is acceptable behavior.
I dive solo. I dive in caves. I dive occasionally inside of ships. But you don't ... and never have ... seen me creating thread after thread after thread on public forums expounding on how you can take shortcuts to training and experience to do those things.
Therein lies the difference. What you do and what you promote on a public forum are very different things. I posit that it is our duty ... yours and mine in particular as dive professionals ... to promote safe diving practices and responsible behavior. Responsible behavior doesn't dictate what types of dives you do ... it defines what constitutes appropriate planning and preparation to do them.
Diving is a lot like driving a car. If everyone on the highway just did whatever the hell they felt like, operating a motor vehicle on an interstate would be a very unsafe activity. Only by establishing a framework of behavior can we be reasonably assured that someone's not going to impact our safety through the exercise of their freedom to do whatever they want. It still happens sometimes, but the risks are reasonably managed through a mutual agreement of what constitutes safe and predictable behavior. Same goes for scuba diving ... although to a much lesser degree since there are no "enforcement" agencies out there monitoring your dive.
Personally, I
like having the freedom to decide for myself how I want to conduct my dive. I'm a huge promoter of keeping it that way. But, realistically, the only way that's going to happen is if we impose a bit of self-discipline on ourselves. Otherwise, the unintended consequences of a lack of discipline will cause others to impose on us
their vision of what we should be doing ... and I think it's in all of our best interests to avoid that ...
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
