are people really this clueless???

[TheRedHead]

I don´t agree with the "all you get is 32/36 crowd"...

32/36 may be what is on the sign but the fill in my tank is often different...the most wrong was propably a 32 that turned into 28 (on rec mixes)...

Yes that happens. I got a tank on the boat that was 39% instead of 32%. For most Nitrox calcualtions, all you need is PO2 = FO2 * P and rearrange that to solve for any variable: best mix, PO2 or depth. But some people just don't get formulas. I used to teach remedial algebra to nursing students who were going to be responsible for administering drugs and often it was a lot of work to get them to understand the math. They had the potential to kill a lot of people. :shakehead

If they can't learn to manipulate the math, should they be denied the Nitrox card? Are people toxing frequently on Nitrox? Maybe they should be encouraged to use a computer or memorize the MODs.

 

[SparticleBrane]

The formulas seriously aren't that hard.
(1.4 / %O2) = MOD in ata
(1.4 / max depth in ata) = best mix

...how do these people do their TAXES if they can't do that?

 

[ClayJar]

...how do these people do their TAXES if they can't do that?

:lol:

 

[TheRedHead]

The formulas seriously aren't that hard.
(1.4 / %O2) = MOD in ata
(1.4 / max depth in ata) = best mix

...how do these people do their TAXES if they can't do that?

1.4 isn't written in stone either. I use 1.6 for deco gas. But it is hard for some people to do this. My tax return was 37 pages long and I wouldn't want to attempt it. :lol:

 

[SparticleBrane]

Right, obviously if you're using 1.6, you're also slightly more advanced then the average joe-sixpack diver. For them, using recreational limits, 1.4 is fine. If they can't figure out those two formulas, the last time you need to do is confuse them with decompression planning...

 

[Swan1172]

If they can't learn to manipulate the math, should they be denied the Nitrox card? Are people toxing frequently on Nitrox? Maybe they should be encouraged to use a computer or memorize the MODs.

It must not be a big problem, as there are agencies out there that are doing Nitrox certifications without using tables or math. See: http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=144235&highlight=nitrox+no+table

 

[SparticleBrane]

Personally I think they should be denied the Nitrox card, on the basis that they can't do basic math. Or perhaps that they can't memorize a small formula and use a calculator to solve it.

Then again I might be biased. Got out of an accounting course this past summer session where people couldn't do basic addition/subtraction without a calculator (even the teacher!)...but the semester before that I was in an applied differential equations/linear algebra electrical engineering class. :shakehead I'm not patting myself on the back, but sometimes I just don't understand how people can't remember 1.4 / 0.32

 

[ClayJar]

It's not like we are talking about differential equations or something like that.

[...]I was in an applied differential equations/linear algebra electrical engineering class.

Okay, I'm definitely in the "arithmetic is a prerequisite for nitrox class" camp, but I can't help but think that some of us may be more mathematically advanced than the "average" diver.

Incidentally, taking differential equations was the first time a math class didn't seem trivial to me (calculus was a blast), but when I had a graduate level chemical engineering math class that went into doing math using infinite dimensional vector spaces, I could feel my brain wrinkling by the minute.

(Note to self: When comparing basic math problems to hard ones in the company of more "normal" people, just say "calculus"... they'll have heard of that.)

 

[TheRedHead]

Personally I think they should be denied the Nitrox card, on the basis that they can't do basic math. Or perhaps that they can't memorize a small formula and use a calculator to solve it.

Frankly, I thought even the tech Adv. Nitrox was trivial, but I do encounter people all the time who can't do basic math like a percentage. I'm not an instructor and don't certify anyone so my opinion will have no effect on how dives and who doesn't. If I were an instructor, I think I would work with the person who wanted to learn, but had a problem with math and would be more harsh with a person who came to class unprepared. It would be a simple enough thing to write down every MOD from 22 to 39% and keep it in dry box. The person with the attitude of just going through the motions is the one to avoid diving with, even if they can do the math.

 

[Swan1172]

The only way agencies make money is by certifying divers and it certainly seems that some agencies "dumb down" diving more than others. While I don't think you need to understand all of the physics behind diving to dive safely, I think it makes you a better diver if you take the time to learn why certain rules like MODs exist. It is the difference between understanding and learning by rote. You can teach a parrot to talk, but all it is doing is mimicing a sound.