Anybody else encounter tech arrogance?

[MXGratefulDiver]

I've met some arrogant tech divers in my time ... not often, and they're certainly a minority, even among some of the more stereotyped agencies (you know who you are).

That said, I've also met my share of arrogant recreational divers. Once I was paired up with a guy who didn't even ask my experience level before going into detail about how I should let him lead the dive because he was a PADI Master Diver. The guy had less than 100 dives, and considered himself an expert. I didn't have the heart to tell him I was cave, tech and wreck certified, and had several thousand more dives than he did. We actually had a nice dive ... until afterward, when he decided to tell me all the things I did wrong. I haven't dived with him since ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[AdivingBel]

Damn, I hate generalizations.

Yep, the hole gets quite crowded with all those pigeons stuffed in there...We are so much better when we treat each other as individuals warts and all. Not just in diving. IMHO

 

[kablooey]

Have you met the only thing more annoying than Know-It-All Tech Guy?
It's Newly-Minted Divemaster Guy who needs to go around the boat safety checking everyone... even though he's not a crew member!

 

[The Chairman]

Youthful exuberance. The freshly converted. The newly minted. They're their own worst enemy. If they make it through that initial "OH-MY-GOD-I-CAN'T-BELIEVE-THIS!" stage without one of us squashing their enthusiasm, tossing them off the back of a moving boat, or throttling them in their sleep, then they'll probably learn to laugh at themselves. I've got a bit more patience than most, so I'll usually take them on as an insta-buddy. I'll let them talk and talk too. Mind you, I'm probably seeing a bit of myself in their exuberance, so I'm smiling. I let them tell me stuff I already know and even stuff I know is wrong and all with a smile. I won't tell them I'm an instructor unless they ask. I usually don't tell them I've probably been diving longer than they've been living. Dive and let dive. When we hit the water the difference between the two of us will almost certainly be obvious. They'll be racing around and I'll be going slow. They'll be wanting to surface with just enough left in their tank. I might use the same tank on the next dive. It's all good. Let them get all excited. I know who I am, what I've done and what my limits are. I'm not going to exceed those limits because they want me to, but they rarely ever ask me to.

 

[NatureLVR]

Say, was your guy diving a 7' hose and carrying a light canister? LOL

Funny you ask, he dives a 5 foot hose and criticized my 7' hose. I explained to him that I like a 7' hose for overhead environments (wrecks). He proceeded to question which agency officially calls for a 7' hose. I didn't care to waste my time educating him. Let him ask his boss.

 

[Jack Hammer]

To some level it's human nature. Your world just got bigger and you are excited and want to share that "new" knowlege with others. I think most people mean well, still sometimes it comes across much different than intended.*




*and then there are a few people who just seem to feel they are better than others.

 

[divezonescuba]

I think it may be a chicken and egg thing.

But, I have had many more tech divers than rec divers tell me "I won't dive with x, y, or z or I won't dive with anyone who wasn't trained by x, y, or z or I won't dive with anyone who has been certified by agency x, y, or z."

Since there are a lot more rec divers than tech divers, the percentage of those types of tech divers must be disproportionate in comparison to rec divers.

All this is interesting because Padi at least, stresses humility as a tech diver characteristic.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

To some level it's human nature. Your world just got bigger and you are excited and want to share that "new" knowlege with others. I think most people mean well, still sometimes it comes across much different than intended.*

I think that's true a lot of times ... particularly with new grads from that one class that keeps getting talked about. I recall a newly DIRFed diver trying to tell my friend Randy why his rig was set up all wrong. Never mind that Randy's a tech instructor, former military diver, former commercial diver, has been diving since the 60's, and has logged over 12,000 dives ... this young fellow was intent on helping him get his rig in proper order. I know me meant well, but Randy was ready to explode by the time the kid's dive buddy came over and suggested that they gear up and go diving ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[DerekR]

When you have an entire community that believes in DIR, the cultic assumption is that everyone else in the world is wrong.

 

[Lorenzoid]

This quote found in the signature of @beester (who hasn't been seen here in a while) was attributed to you, Bob:

You see that in all endeavors ... it's human nature, on the day after losing his virginity, for a guy to strut around acting like he invented sex.