To address one possible source of confusion in this discussion: I don't think anyone has ever claimed here, or anywhere, that two different individuals, diving the same or a similar profile, will experience the same outcomes. What could conceivably be claimed is, at best, that similar profiles could lead to a similar statistical distribution of outcomes, over a greater population of divers, and it is in that context that I've been asking the question.
I have a question, John: when you contemplate individual profiles, and exercise judgment, or make some individual adjustments, do you find that there is any sort of a systematic pattern to what you do? Could you say a few more words about that?
Over the decades, what research has been done has been done by using a lot of test subjects, with the assumption that all of those personal variables will even out. We have not even mentioned perhaps the most important of the personal factors--patent foramen ovale (PFO). In all of those tests, we must assume that the same percentage of test divers had undetected PFOs (or other issues) as are found in the general population. We can then as individuals make our own judgments.
When I dive, I dive knowing that in terms of whatever test populations have preceded me, I am older than that average, I am probably reasonably average in terms of fitness (even considering my age), and I know I do not have a PFO. I have a number of other health issues that I can throw into the mix as I make my decisions.
So when I am choosing decompression algorithms (and this is very much a key subject for me), I take all of this into consideration. That is why a word like "similar" has absolutely no meaning to me in comparing dive profiles. I will want to look at the specific details, and then I will decide--based on MY criteria--how similar they might be, and how important that similarity is for me.
I have a question, John: when you contemplate individual profiles, and exercise judgment, or make some individual adjustments, do you find that there is any sort of a systematic pattern to what you do? Could you say a few more words about that?