Quote:
| Originally Posted by Tunicates are Mad Maybe its in the vested interests of the ancient and venerable keepers of the light to keep other people in the dark for as long as possible, maybe they think that its the only way for them to remain the true keepers of the light.
btw - Terry, I really dont mean you here, just a point about myth upholding. That said, I do think there's something to be said for learning a subject from the beginning - just not the very beginning. Brass hats anyone??? |
Well yes you are right in a way and it is a vested interest of sorts.
Look at it this way. If an Instructor was to sit down and make up what
he/she thought was a decent course, it would bear little resemblence to
what's delivered on your average effort. Why? Because worldwide dive
centers are in a competetive market that has no choice, but to define what
it does.
Ok we can point at autrusitic instructors that go beyond that, but the
harsh reality is that scuba is a big business that does have economies
of scale and like it or not decisions are made.
Ok so add up the numbers that stay on BC's vs those that go to wings?
Guess what? Even if it seems the world (or most of YD) dives a wing, in
your average scuba shop, they are easily outnumbered 10 to 1.
So ok you may hear it said that you can't start on a wing and TBH that's
rubbish, but hand on heart with all my years of teaching newbies, I can
say, that it will take a bit longer. Maybe not a great deal, but enough
to make a difference.
Or to put it another way, are you really going to extend your agencies
course by maybe as little as half a day, making you less competative, just
to accommodate a piece of kit that only 10% of your clients would buy
anyway?
Trouble is with a lot of myths surrounding scuba, is that while we obviously
relate them to our own experiences, the agencies have a considerably larger
agenda that sometimes isnt as clear-cut as you would think.