CAPTAIN SINBAD
Contributor
Rise of internet has allowed for the "de-monopolization of truth." At the same time it has also allowed for "normalization of nonsense." If there is one instrument that has contributed significantly in my own intellectual development as a diver then it is scubaboard. At the same time if there is one instrument that has filled my mind with misleading nonsense it is scubaboard.
Here, "misleading nonsense" means well intended statements that are may make perfect sense in a particular situation in the real world but in the world of internet they are communicated by one well intended person to a total stranger whose social realities the former knows nothing of. One popular slogan that keeps popping up from forum to forum is "It is the instructor not the agency." While I do not intend to dispute the statement itself, aside from internet there are serious complications of adopting this mind set.
A). An Open Water diver has no experience or training in diving so he has little in his pocket to "judge" whether an instructor is good or bad. His initial perceptions of good and bad will be shaped by the instructor so we are basically asking that he measures the competency of his educator by using the yard stick that the same educator has provided to him.
Dudes and dudettes, I am the perfect man if I am judged by the criteria that I myself have created.
B) Whose perception of "good" shall we use to find the good instructor? Jarod Jablonski's perception of a good instructor may be very different than what your PADI LDS calls "good instructor." Neither of them are wrong. They may be good for two different purposes.
Dudes and dudettes, How can I recommend a good instructor when I do not know what your perception of good instructor is? How can I recommend a good instructor when you yourself do not know what your perception of good instructor is?
C) Scuba is an industry where every instructor is a legend in his own mind and the students they produce have only taken lessons from that one guy so in most cases they are convinced that they have gotten the best training. When you go out looking for a good instructor it may not be much different than finding the "best religion."
Dudes and dudettes, We are all disciples to people who see themselves as Prophets.
The entire purpose of training agencies was to solve this dilemma for the person who has little understanding of what he or she is getting into. When you go to MIT or Harvard University, you do not have to find a "good professor." The institution has already done that for you. If you want to eat a pizza, you do not need to find a pizza chef. You find the "brand" (Pizza Hut) and the agency has already screened and located the best pizza chef for you. In scuba industry we are telling the end consumers to ignore the agency brand and start locating the best chef. If this is not a global failure of scuba agencies then what is? If the overall consensus is that look for the instructor not the agency then that means training agencies have failed to do what they are created to do.
There are agencies that keep their instructor core very small and are extremely stringent in giving out C-cards but on an internet forum they will be under represented. They do not have enough instructors or students to have a significant voice on message boards so if you are trying to search internet forums for the best instruction then these agencies will be the most criticized or bashed ones.
In the end, internet truth and real world truth are two totally different things so let us all find a good instructor.
Here, "misleading nonsense" means well intended statements that are may make perfect sense in a particular situation in the real world but in the world of internet they are communicated by one well intended person to a total stranger whose social realities the former knows nothing of. One popular slogan that keeps popping up from forum to forum is "It is the instructor not the agency." While I do not intend to dispute the statement itself, aside from internet there are serious complications of adopting this mind set.
A). An Open Water diver has no experience or training in diving so he has little in his pocket to "judge" whether an instructor is good or bad. His initial perceptions of good and bad will be shaped by the instructor so we are basically asking that he measures the competency of his educator by using the yard stick that the same educator has provided to him.
Dudes and dudettes, I am the perfect man if I am judged by the criteria that I myself have created.
B) Whose perception of "good" shall we use to find the good instructor? Jarod Jablonski's perception of a good instructor may be very different than what your PADI LDS calls "good instructor." Neither of them are wrong. They may be good for two different purposes.
Dudes and dudettes, How can I recommend a good instructor when I do not know what your perception of good instructor is? How can I recommend a good instructor when you yourself do not know what your perception of good instructor is?
C) Scuba is an industry where every instructor is a legend in his own mind and the students they produce have only taken lessons from that one guy so in most cases they are convinced that they have gotten the best training. When you go out looking for a good instructor it may not be much different than finding the "best religion."
Dudes and dudettes, We are all disciples to people who see themselves as Prophets.
The entire purpose of training agencies was to solve this dilemma for the person who has little understanding of what he or she is getting into. When you go to MIT or Harvard University, you do not have to find a "good professor." The institution has already done that for you. If you want to eat a pizza, you do not need to find a pizza chef. You find the "brand" (Pizza Hut) and the agency has already screened and located the best pizza chef for you. In scuba industry we are telling the end consumers to ignore the agency brand and start locating the best chef. If this is not a global failure of scuba agencies then what is? If the overall consensus is that look for the instructor not the agency then that means training agencies have failed to do what they are created to do.
There are agencies that keep their instructor core very small and are extremely stringent in giving out C-cards but on an internet forum they will be under represented. They do not have enough instructors or students to have a significant voice on message boards so if you are trying to search internet forums for the best instruction then these agencies will be the most criticized or bashed ones.
In the end, internet truth and real world truth are two totally different things so let us all find a good instructor.