
Originally Posted by
silent running
Hello all, as has been inferred above, legal liability has got to add substantially to the cost of equipment and courses. It really is a shame that responsibility is now so diffused across our nominally free societies. This diffused responsibility has clearly produced many unfortunate, unintended consequences beyond the dive industry, like the nanny state and the deluded, fragile snowflakes who gleefully inhabit it.
That being said, I still find CCR diving to be competitive with motorcycle ownership in terms of expense. Plenty of people own motorcycles, presumably because they like freedom and a thrill. Motorcycles also double as transportation, and weather permitting one can get on and go whenever one feels like it. CCR diving on the other hand requires multi step intensive certification and a lot of thinking and forbearance to become a self-sufficient diver. Not to mention the substantial time and effort to plan and travel to the dive sites. The motivation required to follow through would seem to be the same for all of us, whether our interest is wrecks, caves or wildlife. An abiding curiosity about the other world which lies beneath the surface, the kind of curiosity that inspires the imagination and summons the courage to venture out of our comfort zone into the hostile, foreign and unknown environment of inner space. The same could also be said about OC recreational divers, but obviously to a much lesser degree.
Video games are the opposite of this, a kind of ersatz, pre-imagined "adventure" and escape from reality. No need to venture out of the comfort zone, hell, why not make it more comfortable by ordering some ersatz Chinese food online! If the aliens want to bring the earthlings to their knees, all they have to do is capture Amazon and the comfort seeking snowflakes will melt into puddles. In other words, I fear for the future of our pastime... -Andy