OP
NAUI Wowie
Contributor
I think that what is in play here is something I first described as the I'm-the-best-I-know-syndrome a number of years ago. I first described the phenomenon in relation to a fatal accident in Cozumel in which some highly experienced Cozumel divers did a bounce dive to 400 feet. In this syndrome, people become involved in one kind of diving and do it over and over and over and over again, and after a while they quite rightly observe that they are among the very best divers they have ever seen. They therefore conclude that they must therefore be among the best divers in the world. The flaw in that thinking is that they have never really been exposed to any of the best divers in the world, and so they have no real ability to compare.
Moreover, they are diving in such a benign environment that even if one of the world's truly elite divers were to dive with them, they would not have any way of seeing what makes those divers elite. This quarter's Diver Alert magazine from DAN has an interview with one of the divers who rescued the children in Thailand. Read that and ask yourself if you are anywhere ready to do those dives. If one of those divers joined you on a tropical reef, though, you might well be tempted to compare yourself favorably to him in the skills you see.
More than 1,000 dives ago, I developed a pretty good opinion of my skills. Since then, I have been fortunate enough to see some pretty darned good divers. I also have read enough about those I have not seen to get a much more accurate picture of where I am on the spectrum of diving skill. Consequently, I have a much lower estimation of my personal diving skills today than I did 1,000 dives ago. Now that I have a better idea of what it takes to be a truly elite diver, I am convinced that for me, it will never happen. I will go out and continue to do the best I can at the dives that are within my level of training and experience. I will never, however, be what I now consider to be elite.
Ive read some truly frightening posts about cave diving in a couple areas of this country. Some of those guys I think can practically walk on water and still things happen. I just signed up btw for divers alert and got dans insurance so I did just receive that issue with the british cave divers. Gotta read that in depth.