NudeDiver
Contributor
I'll put this in a different framework.
Question: Should young students in public school science classrooms be exposed to the "controversy" concerning evolution and be presented with alternative ideas?
Answer: No (sorry, Kansas, Georgia, Texas, et. al.). Because there is no raging controversy among SCIENTISTS - the CREATORS OF SCIENCE. The "controversy" is purely political, and has been manufactured by non-scientists who want to re-define the concept of "science" for the purpose of promoting their religious views.
So - bringing that to diving....just because someone has a different idea does not mean there is a controversy. Even if someone is able to convince 100 of his closest buddies, it doesn't become a controversy. The "sides" in a controversy need an organized body of evidence, that has at least the plausibility of some truth to it, that can be used to create a rational and logical viewpoint. It is only when two or more such viewpoints compete against one another does a controversy exist.
Aside from that, not all opinions and "sides" of a controversy are equal. The world of facts and figures is not a democracy. There is no "equality" and "political correctness" in the world of nature. Non-scientist opinions about what science is, or what the facts of science are, do and should have much less "weight" to them than scientists. Opinions about how a bridge should be built are much more useful from engineers than they are from floral designers. By the same token, opinions about what constitutes "good diving practices" may vary by individual, but it is not unreasonable to give the most weight to the opinions of the most experience and established divers (which leaves me out). The opinions of the rest of us may have little to no value. It's true. I know people think that way about most of my posts.
However, as was pointed out earlier, the whole point of an open forum such as SB is to exchange ideas - and ideas are often driven by agendas. There is no sign up and credential verification process, to ensure that the "diving gods" amongst the crowd have their posts emphasized in any way, or to allow only "vetted" divers to post answers to questions people raise. It's up to the reader to sort out the facts from the bull**** in this marketplace of ideas. If the reader is unable to do this - well, too bad for them!In the ideal world, people could be presented with a variety of information (different bodies of evidence, representing the multitude of "sides" in a controversy), analyze it critically (sort out the facts from the bull****), and come to their own reasonable opinion about an issue. However, the sad fact is, most people (in America at least) lack this ability - largely due to the fact that today's public schools are propaganda machines, designed to create happy little taxpayers who do what their government tells them to, rather than teaching people to think - and think for themselves.
So, we have a large segment of the population that must be spoonfed information that they just have to take on faith, for better or worse. At least one diving cert agency I am familiar with seems to have accepted this and appears to have developed its training materials accordingly. Should this agency's students be exposed to alternative ideas and controversies? On one hand, more information usually seems like a good idea. On the other hand, most people don't know what to do with the information they have and are hardly capable of analyzing and making use of competing information. Why confuse them? Just tell them what to think and what to do, and don't fight "the man". It's a losing battle.
