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> I'm sure there's a lot in this self image thing. It seems that a
>lot of the 'discussion' that goes on between divers is based more upon
>the rhetoric (as you put it) or philosophy (as I'd probably say) that
Philosophy. Philosophy (but I say that because I'm in daily=20
non-professional contact at work with a doctor of philosophy - and boy we=20
have a good time playing with words)...
>they have taken on board along with their training than upon the
>mechanics of diving itself! After all, physics is the same anywhere.
Well... Physics is unfortunately beyond the grasp of many people (read=
=20
my .sig) in the USA. In Europe, there is a minimal amount of knowledge that=
=20
is required from students before they graduate, and it is several orders of=
=20
magnitude bigger than what's the "norm" (I mean what is accepted by the=20
society at large) in the USA.=20
As I always explain to european newcomers in our club who lament the=20
shallow dives, people don't [recreationally] dive deep because we're taught=
=20
not to do it. The diving courses are so shallow (pun intended) in training=
=20
that agencies take the easy way out: don't do it. Unless you want an=20
advanced course. But even then, it's worse, for people will often go to an=
=20
"advanced" course after 10 ow dives. I've got 80 of them, and I don't=20
consider myself ready for "deep" diving (more than 30 meters), especially=20
when I had my DV freeflow on me 40m down. In fact, the next class I'm taking=
=20
is going to be a nitrox class, and I'm doing it precisely because I don't=20
*WANT* to dive deep.
Out there (over the rainbo^h^h^h^h^hpond - I mean, in Europe, "the old=
=20
countries", as we call them in Qu=E9bec), the situation is different. You=
guys=20
have omnipresent clubs (I mean the BSAC, the FFESSM and the Italian outfit,=
=20
which I know first hand) who take their time to teach divers. But here, no=
=20
way anybody is going to wait a year before being handed a novice=
certification.
I'm not easy with the fact that PADI is getting into Europe. I'm aghast=
=20
at the BSAC attitude of "oh, well, they can come here if they want" towards=
=20
them, because in the long run, BSAC won't have the choice but to become more=
=20
lenient, Padiesque. However, Imbert's [FFESSM head honcho] attitude of open=
=20
war on PADI, as exemplified in one of his editorials last fall in Subaqua=20
clearly show that there is some resistance, and hopefully, France will lead=
=20
Europe... ;) ;) ;) (Yes, I'm an admirer of Charles De Gaulle - however, I=20
can't very well say the same of the current french president, though)...
> Anyway, I like looking at americans because I can do it from the
>outside; it's very hard to look in general terms at the British for me.
Hmmm... I'm french, so do you want me to do it for you? ;) ;) ;) ;)
> Have a good night dive, I look forward to reading about it (and
>learning from it!). Eighty dives? Gosh, I can remember when you were
>just starting out! Eighty dives in a year is pretty good going; looks
>like it's a race between you and TAB to set the highest beginner rate.
Yeah... I remember having my tanks filled one day in the shop where I=20
took my classes, and the boss took care of them. It was late in November,=20
and he asks me how many dives I had since I got certified, back in mid-July.=
=20
-Oh, about 35 dives, I answer. Well, he was impressed, and told me that the=
=20
average number of dives per annum, for the average Qu=E9bec diver, is about=
=20
7-8 dives...
> The web page would be fun... Even just an archive of your diving
Don't hold your breath (NEVER!), but I started scanning some pictures=20
today... ;)
>tales would be worth while (unless you want to save them up for the
This already exists: someone begged me for my dive reports, and I sent=
=20
him some, which he put on his page, at=
"http://www.crl.com/~granholm/dive/"...
>hardcopy bestseller!). Goofrit. I'm always a little disappointed with
>stuff on the web, because it's never as complete as the books, usually
>for copywrite reasons or self-censorship. Some artistry will be required
>- I have faith you can supply!
Well... I'm in the publishing industry, and I see the turnaround for=20
publishing a paper book (especially those coffee-table books which we almost=
=20
exclusively do), and I don't think it's a *good thing*, compared to what can=
=20
be done with the WWW... So, I'm pushing hard so the business can eventually=
=20
handle WWW design.
I think that as soon as the WWW will graduate from it's current novelty=
=20
status, there should be some serious stuff done. You may want, for example,=
=20
to look at my rail stuff in my homepage...
Anyway, I've got to go pack my gear, so, in the meantime, since you're=
=20
in the U.K., have a good pint of Courage (or Smithwick's) for me...
---- =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D ----
America has the largest number of functional illiterates in the=20
industrial world. (Richard Lamm, Uncompetitive Society)=20
* Marc Dufour * [\] ACUC 6 31874 * http://WWW.CAM.ORG/~mdufour *
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