I don't care how many dives you have, if you can contribute to the discussion at hand all the better. I know far to many divers with large #'s that believe that by shear number of dives make a better knowledgable diver. I may be on the wrong side of this but some of the people I dive with are instructors, so if I have a question I feel I am not getting the best answer to, I ask them. Then bring it back to the board. It is surprising to find that most times the answer was there, just not worded correctly.
If it helps, I have 200 + dives, mostly fresh water dives and I have been diving for 8 years.