Community in a Global Society

Scuba diving is an extremely technical sport.  According to Pacific Watersports, technology has allowed us the ability to use, “…a blend of Nitrogen and Oxygen, where there is less Nitrogen and more oxygen, then the air we breathe now.”  This technology has also shown us, “how to tell what's in your scuba tank by using analyzers and how to set your dive computer.”  This is a small list of what technology has brought to the scuba world let alone the communication with others.  Even though there are computers and analyzers that calculate dives for divers, if one of these were to fail, it is up to the diver and their buddy to complete their dive safely as similarly shown by the *picture on the left. 

 

Communication within the community does not have to stay under the water.  In fact, planning the dive ahead of time is recommended by PADI, Professional Association of Diving Instructors.  Getting together for dinner is one way my community comes together for planning these dives.  Technology fits in to these dinners because it is our path to arranging the dinner plans.  Without technology, we would not be able to communicate as easily about when and where they were.  Most likely, we would meet once a week at the dive shop, Pacific Watersports, in Aloha, OR for meetings. 

Gatherings for global events have occurred but are attended by only a portion of the community due to time and money issues.  While all of us would love to dive various sites throughout the world, only a few of us can afford to do so.  Other than the want to dive these sites, we also have the connection to them all over the world through other dive shops and divers.  Without knowing the other divers personally, we share stories with any diver that will listen and share back.  This is one great thing about being in any diving community.  Each community, small or large, is connected to all dive communities thanks to globalization. 

New discoveries, stories, techniques, and many more are what keep scuba diving communities connected.  For beginner divers, diving is about completing the next step in training and learning how to love and enjoy the sport.  For advanced divers, diving is more about finding a challenge and pushing themselves to discover new things.  These new things are then shared with divers throughout the world and then taken to journalists, scientists, or whoever needed for their story to be spread for the world to hear about.  A great example of this is how Planet Earth used scuba diving to show the world sites that can only be scene from a diver’s perspective as shown and expressed by Larry O’Hanlon in Deep Ocean and Caves.

 

Personally, I have never been so connected to a community that is involved with the world to this degree.  I have played sports and music but neither has this strong of a connection on a personal level to communities throughout the world.  Looking at how my new community is changing my life globally, I am excited for what the future brings me in advancing my scuba diving skills into looking for the challenge of new discoveries and technologies to share my skills with the rest of the world and connect more with the current and future advanced divers of the scuba world.