I find it interesting that so much talk on this topic is about instructors and comparing experienced divers to instructors with respect to skill. I don't think it's a reasonable comparison. Generally speaking, and I'm not talking about diving in particular, being certified as an instructor in some subject area does NOT mean you are a master in that subject area. Nor does it even mean that you are particularly skilled in whatever that subject area is. What it means, in general, in my opinion, is that you are trained in, and should have some measure of competence in, TEACHING someone something about that subject area. So, for example, in my view, having an instructor certification in diving does not mean that one is a magnificent diver. It merely means that one has been trained in how to train someone to dive. That's hardly the same thing as being an expert. It's also an entirely different skill than the skills gets in the process of becoming an experienced diver.
Looking at this in a different way - I once had a chemistry professor that of course had a PhD in chemistry - and no doubt was an absolute expert in his field of expertise. He was a brilliant, brilliant man. He did groundbreaking research in the field of chemistry. He had several patents. However - he couldn't TEACH chemistry worth a hill of beans. He SUCKED!!!! For all his expertise, he was unable to effectively transfer that knowledge to students. On the other hand - I had a high school chemistry teacher (before he got busted for feeling up girls in the high school dark room), who was probably so-so in terms of intelligence (and certainly in wisdom), and who probably did not know a huge amount of chemistry (esp. in relation to the PhD university professor), but he could TEACH something about chemistry to others. Presumably, this is as a result of his training in teaching over and above whatever formal training he may have had in chemistry. In other words, knowing something and being able to teach something are two entirely different things. Being certified as a teacher (or instructor) does not imply that one is an expert. So, it should come as no great surprise to people that an experienced diver may have superior diving skills to many instructors.
As for the OP's question - being certified in something doesn't even imply basic competence as far as I'm concerned. Consider: I may have received an "A" in high school trig, but it's not as if I remember much of it. If you were to give me the final exam from that class right now, I'm sure I would fail it miserably. And yet - I got an "A" - so what does that "A" really mean? Not much.
It's like having a university degree. What does it mean? Does it mean you're an expert in that field? Does it even mean you have basic knowledge of that field? No, not really. All it really means its you set a goal, you put in the time and effort to meet that goal, you stuck with it until the end, and you set out what you accomplished. It also indicates that you are "trainable". This is the real point. A lot of these aspects don't really apply to diving certifications though. No one is really likely to care that you put out the effort to complete an AOW class. Like a previous posted indicated - it provides a benchmark for someone to point to so that they can cover their ass. By requiring a certain cert, an operator can say, "well, hey, he has that cert, so he should have been able to handle the conditions."
Finally - I agree with the above comments about marketing. To some degree, certs appeal to one's vanity or ego, either directly or subconsciously. Also, some people (myself included) are "goal oriented". They have more fun with an activity if they are trying to achieve some goal. Giving people the opportunity to work toward some goal, while having fun, increases the fun and/or justification of the expense of a rather expensive hobby. Certs provide a sense of accomplishment, which can encourage people to keep diving or dive more often than they otherwise would. This is good for everyone - the diver, the operators, the manufacturers, shops, etc.
So, to boil down this ridiculously long-winded post:
- Don't make the mistake of assuming being an instructor (in anything) equates to having skill or even should create an expectation that one has skill
- Certs really don't mean much, beyond a shield for liability in one form or another
- Certs provide incentives for people to dive, over and above the inherent incentives provided by underwater activities
So, there you go - just one dude's opinion
Cheers!
nd
