Hi Bob, thanks for your input on this. To answer your examples.
Grateful Diver wrote:
So let's say some guy ... a moderately experienced OW diver ... purchases a Meg on Craigslist and decides he's perfectly capable of teaching himself how to use it. He heads off to Cove 2, does a solo dive on his new rebreather, and comes here to talk about what a great dive he had.
Do you suggest to him that what he's doing is dangerous? Maybe point out a few things that he doesn't understand? Would you even suggest to him that taking the class is way worth the money?
Wouldn't all of those things be offering unsolicited advice? Is it arrogant and rude to point out to someone that what they don't know can get them injured or dead before they even realize what's happening?
I respect that this is your board, and you can make any rules you want. I understand that if I want to post here, I need to respect those rules ... and I honestly try to.
But I don't agree with this one at all ... it's overly broad, and assumes the worst about people who may only be trying to help someone avoid an accident.
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
In this case I'd say that there is a lot wrong with the situation. Much more than this board can solve for a diver who is buying a several thousand dollar rebreather off of Craigslist and then deciding to dive it without any training. I don't pretend that this board is a solution for someone like that, and don't advise the members here to either. BTW, this hypothetical guy might also buy a gun in a private sale and decide to learn how to shoot it left-handed, blindfolded and in a crowded place. Again, I don't think that it's
SeattleGuns.net's responsibility to set him straight - but they might notify the local authorities if he makes a post indicating intent to do something illegal or harmful to others, just like we all discussed a dude who was certifying people under his own "agency" awhile back.
Going back to the idea of someone buying a Meg with no training. ISC won't ship a CCR to just anyone. They'll only ship the loop to your instructor. So, there is some built in safety to the process of buying and being trained on a rebreather. But again, no one can control the private, secondary market. While it's a noble cause to try to do so, it's not the mission of NWDC to police such transactions.
Grateful Diver wrote:
OK, so now I'll give you another example.
Someone comes onto the board and posts about a disorienting situation they had underwater. They ask what might have caused it. They casually mention that while they were disoriented and unable to see, their dive buddy swam away ... and that they had to end the dive solo. They didn't see anything wrong or unusual with this.
By the rules, I can't point out that as disturbing as the disorientation is ... having a dive buddy just swim off and leave you there at a time when you're incapacitated is an even bigger issue ... and probably an indication that there's some deficiencies in their approach to this dive that should be addressed. I can't say that ... no matter how strongly I feel that having a dive buddy swim off and leave you alone at a time when you are incapacitated completely invalidates the whole reason for diving with a buddy in the first place. I can't suggest that maybe ... just maybe ... this isn't a very safe approach to diving with a buddy.
I can't bring that up. I just have to sit and wonder what would've happened if this disorientation was the onset of something more serious ... and wonder how long it's gonna be before this approach to "buddy" diving ends up leaving us with one less person in our community.
There's such a thing as common sense ... but you don't know what you don't know ... and if you don't even understand why something might be putting you at a high risk, how are you supposed to ask for advice about it?
... Bob (Grateful Diver)
On this one, it's a clear answer.
Someone comes onto the board and posts about a disorienting situation they had underwater. They ask what might have caused it.
That's asking for advice, and I would have zero problem with you or anyone else providing it to such a person.
I hope that this appropriately illustrates the rule. It is a tough issue without a perfect solution, and there are some instances of grey areas, I know. Again, this rule is not intended to prevent anyone seeking advice or help from getting it. Rather, it's to prevent members from preaching to one another, "pulling rank", ridiculing others for posting dive reports, reinforcing divisions in terms of dive philosophies, opening up NWDC to liability, etc.
To answer April's comments,
Now with that being said there's a big difference between offering advice and being "pompous and rude". It's easy to miscommunicate on the internet, and people tend to forget that.
The problem is that what is considered "helpful and informative" to a sender might very well be interpreted as "pompous and rude" to the recipient. To me, the recipient's interpretation is more important than fulfilling the sender's desire. And the best way to ensure that the recipient does not feel that they are being unnecessarily scuba policed is to provide advice to them
when they ask for it.
There are a ton of people on this board with a lot of knowledge and experience that I would hate to see posting less or leaving the board because they feel like they're not allowed to speak, but at the same time can't say nothing with a clear conscious.
The primary purpose of this board is to serve recreational divers who are looking for dive buddies and information about diving in the Pacific Northwest. It would be unfortunate if experienced people left the board because they are asked to reserve advice for those seeking it. But, I don't see a great reason for this to happen since there is
a great abundance of people asking for it.
Why are we all debating this anyway, does anyone think that there's a huge population of members on the forum who are dying for sound advice on how to dive, but for some reason are tongue-tied and can't ask for it? I continually see people asking good questions and receiving smart answers. So, what's the problem here?
PS - because I have ADD and just jumped right into my response to Bob and April, I completely missed the fourth page of this discussion. So, please don't take it as an intentional non-response to the posters on page 4.