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On Thu, 8 Jun 1995, Roderick Farb wrote: > > Let's not establish anything. Advise divers thoroughly!! Then, let them > > dive the way they want to dive. Natural selection works. Most of > > the divers that have perished diving the last few years are people you > > would refer to as experienced divers. I knew two personally. Regulations, > > certification cards, instructor level don't mean squat. I prefer you to > > show me you can dive successfully in any manner of diving you care to > > pursue than to show me all your c-cards and training certifications. Great minds must think alike. I'm not impressed by little plastic cards, and as an evolutionary biologist, I have great respect and admiration for the process of natural selection. Without it, life on earth would not have advanced much beyond the "primoridial ooze". I think the big hoopla about establishing standards and such (which I personally don't care all that much about), is that many people are concerned with non-diving law-maker types reading newspaper accounts about the victims of natural selection, and deciding that diving is just too damn dangerous for all of us. They might then impose restrictions for our own good. As I've said before, though, I'm not real confident there's any correlation between establishing standards and reducing accident rates. Because most of my own desired dive destinations are not within U.S. waters, I'm not all that concerned about this issue. But that's not gonna stop me from forcing my beliefs of "how it ought to be done" down everyone's throat... :-) Aloha, Rich Richard Pyle deepreef@bi*.bi*.ha*.or* ******************************************************************* "WHATEVER happens to you when you willingly go underwater is COMPLETELY and ENTIRELY your own responsibility! If you cannot accept this responsibility, stay out of the water!" *******************************************************************
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