6 weeks????
My OW course in 1975 was SIX MONTHS long...
Ok, probably too much..
But even today a FIPSAS-CMAS course is three months here!
I do not agree with you that it was a good idea to demolish these well-featured (and task demanding) OW courses to the point of releasing a diving certification in a weekend.
Sorry for being "old school" on this.
And personally I think that the continuous reduction in number of new divers is also due to the fact that it has been made too easy.
For a youngster it is not presented as a difficult, task demanding activity, as it was for me in the seventies.
If it is a sport suitable for a 60 y.o. fat lady, who cannot even swim without fins, it cannot be something exciting for a youngster...
You see, you didn't read my post closely enough!
I SAID "The argument you really want to have is why are we letting people with limited training scuba dive in the first place."
I did NOT say that the current trend in training (minimizing standards) was a good idea. I didn't say it wasn't. That wasn't the point of my post.
Dude, this ship has sailed. All of us technical and rebreather divers put together are a rounding error when you look at the scuba industry worldwide. Even throw in well trained recreational divers, we are still a minority.
What I described IS what the world's diving population primarily consists of. You might feel differently if you just hang out on scubaboard or with other dedicated divers, but that's not true. Just like I live in Manhattan and I think that everybody wears a mask outside, but that's not true either.
I was giving my opinion as to WHY the agencies just tell people in basic OW classes that they shouldn't break NDLs without further training, and leave it at that.