What do you think?
Rate this book
Acclaimed journalist Leigh Sales has her doubts, and thinks you should, too.
Her classic personal essay carries a message of truth, scrutiny and accountability-a much-needed pocket-sized antidote to fake news.
Donald Trump, the post-truth world and the instability of Australian politics are all examined in this fresh take on her prescient essay on the media and political trends that define our times
Her classic personal essay carries a message of truth, scrutiny and accountability-a much-needed pocket-sized antidote to fake news.
Donald Trump, the post-truth world and the instability of Australian politics are all examined in this fresh take on her prescient essay on the media and political trends that define our times
128 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2009
About the author
Leigh Sales
8 books292 followersLeigh Sales is an Australian author and journalist. She is the host of the Australian television channel ABC’s flagship news and current affairs program 7.30.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews
November 12, 2018
This work is an extended essay on doubt, aiming to challenge blind faith and over-confidence while still realising that constant doubting carries its own issues. No mere polemic written to burgeoningly champion curiosity or dryly approach it from an overly theoretical view, Sales shares the moments and thinking in her life that have led her to her views and successful journalist career, melding insightful observations with gentle yet forensic thoughts.
Let is not be said that I agree with everything presented. For example, I differ on the conclusions she draws regarding the nature of religious faith and doubt. I actually think that there is a very real and needed place for doubt within faith, and that it is possible (however paradoxical it seems) for faith and doubt to coexist.
However, the strength of this slim and very readable work is not in whether one agrees with the premise or the various thoughts presented. Instead, it is in how it provokes thoughts and questions about important ideas of truth, scrutiny, and doubt.
This work was first published in 2009. Since then, the very nature of truth and language in public debate and life has (unfortunately negatively) changed, dramatically so. Sales muses on this in her ‘Postscript 2017’(pages 91-144), reflecting on international personalities like President Donald Trump and local incidents like interviews in the leadup to the 2016 Australian federal election with then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. This addition adds to what was already a very worthwhile read.
Let is not be said that I agree with everything presented. For example, I differ on the conclusions she draws regarding the nature of religious faith and doubt. I actually think that there is a very real and needed place for doubt within faith, and that it is possible (however paradoxical it seems) for faith and doubt to coexist.
However, the strength of this slim and very readable work is not in whether one agrees with the premise or the various thoughts presented. Instead, it is in how it provokes thoughts and questions about important ideas of truth, scrutiny, and doubt.
This work was first published in 2009. Since then, the very nature of truth and language in public debate and life has (unfortunately negatively) changed, dramatically so. Sales muses on this in her ‘Postscript 2017’(pages 91-144), reflecting on international personalities like President Donald Trump and local incidents like interviews in the leadup to the 2016 Australian federal election with then Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten. This addition adds to what was already a very worthwhile read.
November 23, 2017
Leigh Sales is an ABC journalist and current affairs presenter who has been curious and sceptical all her life. She was the quintessential, questioning, ever-doubting teenager that grew up to do the same thing throughout her career.
She aims to challenge blind faith and over-confidence, but living life with a doubtful mind has it's own pitfalls including anxiety and a lack of an all-consuming passion to name two.
The essay is dotted with fascinating little stories about her childhood, George Bush, Sarah Palin, old style journalists and public disputes between journalists & historians.
There's even a 12th century philosopher, Pierre Abelard...
Full review here - http://bronasbooks.blogspot.com.au/20...
She aims to challenge blind faith and over-confidence, but living life with a doubtful mind has it's own pitfalls including anxiety and a lack of an all-consuming passion to name two.
The essay is dotted with fascinating little stories about her childhood, George Bush, Sarah Palin, old style journalists and public disputes between journalists & historians.
There's even a 12th century philosopher, Pierre Abelard...
Full review here - http://bronasbooks.blogspot.com.au/20...
May 14, 2018
A great essay on the essential qualities our media and many of our leaders are lacking. The capacity to question, challenge and use evidence to justify the truth, instead of producing “fake news” via opinion. Worth a read! Proves why Sales is one of Australia’s greatest Journalists.
January 18, 2018
41/2 stars
A little gem in the Little Books on Big Themes series. On Doubt was first published in 2009 but this more recent edition includes a postscript written in 2017.
Leigh Sales begins her discussion on the topic of Doubt by revisiting her early childhood when she was always in trouble for constantly asking questions and/or demanding “But why?” Even at any early age she was not simply rebellious but persistently inquisitive. Due to her mother’s stance on religion she had little to no formal religious education but again being curious she willingly joined church groups after she left school but she found it difficult to acquire faith when she could not prove the events in the Bible – “she needed answers based on reason, evidence and logic”.
Sales had personal doubts about her own abilities, her attractiveness, and other general pursuits but found being doubtful rather than being certain, enabled her to have an open mind which she believes was beneficial to genuine learning. Her doubts about religion spread to doubts about politics and her quest to find out more about current events lead her into journalism.
In this book she argues that the great thinkers who sought truth historically; scientists, philosophers, writers, artists, revolutionaries, and explorers – all had to have doubts about the status quo so that they could push beyond what was presumed certain and break away from the traditional thoughts. Hence contemporary science is not based on faith and all new ideas must be tested and peer evaluated before gaining acceptance by the scientific community. Sales continues “that the application of a doubtful mind is the best way to wisdom and insight” and this she believes should be the foundation of journalism if it is to be objective and balanced. She laments the growing influence of ‘opinion’ in the mainstream media as this is based on an individual’s “certainty” so that existing beliefs and biases are broadcast without making any attempt at offering a diversity of views.
An additional concern regarding doubt over certainty arises when influential people “make doubt seem like heresy or stupidity”. If you “have second thoughts…. or are less confident in your own opinions…. you are weak”...And “it encourages a culture of dishonesty”. Sales uses George Bush as an example of a leader who was not prone to doubt and did not want advisers who offered uncertainties.
Additionally, in her postscript she identifies how far we have come from honesty via social media distorting the truth in our daily lives and showing only our “best possible selves to the world”. Also, the deployment of propaganda to discredit all and sundry has now become the norm. President Trump is a master of media manipulation when he uses the term ‘fake news’ to “discredit legitimate investigative journalism that simply is not to their liking”.
An enjoyable little modern philosophical read.
A little gem in the Little Books on Big Themes series. On Doubt was first published in 2009 but this more recent edition includes a postscript written in 2017.
Leigh Sales begins her discussion on the topic of Doubt by revisiting her early childhood when she was always in trouble for constantly asking questions and/or demanding “But why?” Even at any early age she was not simply rebellious but persistently inquisitive. Due to her mother’s stance on religion she had little to no formal religious education but again being curious she willingly joined church groups after she left school but she found it difficult to acquire faith when she could not prove the events in the Bible – “she needed answers based on reason, evidence and logic”.
Sales had personal doubts about her own abilities, her attractiveness, and other general pursuits but found being doubtful rather than being certain, enabled her to have an open mind which she believes was beneficial to genuine learning. Her doubts about religion spread to doubts about politics and her quest to find out more about current events lead her into journalism.
In this book she argues that the great thinkers who sought truth historically; scientists, philosophers, writers, artists, revolutionaries, and explorers – all had to have doubts about the status quo so that they could push beyond what was presumed certain and break away from the traditional thoughts. Hence contemporary science is not based on faith and all new ideas must be tested and peer evaluated before gaining acceptance by the scientific community. Sales continues “that the application of a doubtful mind is the best way to wisdom and insight” and this she believes should be the foundation of journalism if it is to be objective and balanced. She laments the growing influence of ‘opinion’ in the mainstream media as this is based on an individual’s “certainty” so that existing beliefs and biases are broadcast without making any attempt at offering a diversity of views.
An additional concern regarding doubt over certainty arises when influential people “make doubt seem like heresy or stupidity”. If you “have second thoughts…. or are less confident in your own opinions…. you are weak”...And “it encourages a culture of dishonesty”. Sales uses George Bush as an example of a leader who was not prone to doubt and did not want advisers who offered uncertainties.
Additionally, in her postscript she identifies how far we have come from honesty via social media distorting the truth in our daily lives and showing only our “best possible selves to the world”. Also, the deployment of propaganda to discredit all and sundry has now become the norm. President Trump is a master of media manipulation when he uses the term ‘fake news’ to “discredit legitimate investigative journalism that simply is not to their liking”.
An enjoyable little modern philosophical read.
January 27, 2019
A well written and easy little read. An argument for doubt in an age of false confidence and blind faith.
However I was left a bit short with wondering about Sales meta-theory of doubt. Doubt is good, but how much exactly? The essay seems uncomfortable in trying to answer this. Are we to emulate Descartes and doubt even our own existence? Or are there some things we can have ‘blind faith’ in. The post-script does address this in part (I.e. that not all doubts are created equal). The position taken in this book is a difficult one to defend: seemingly arguing for both fundamental truth on one hand and relativism on the other.
However this is my internal conflict as well. So maybe it was just hitting too close to home. There may be some projection here. And I probably shouldn’t expect this 50 page essay to sort that for me.
However I was left a bit short with wondering about Sales meta-theory of doubt. Doubt is good, but how much exactly? The essay seems uncomfortable in trying to answer this. Are we to emulate Descartes and doubt even our own existence? Or are there some things we can have ‘blind faith’ in. The post-script does address this in part (I.e. that not all doubts are created equal). The position taken in this book is a difficult one to defend: seemingly arguing for both fundamental truth on one hand and relativism on the other.
However this is my internal conflict as well. So maybe it was just hitting too close to home. There may be some projection here. And I probably shouldn’t expect this 50 page essay to sort that for me.
November 12, 2018
I have to admit (sheepishly) that I don’t know Leigh Sales’ work all that well; but the moment I read about her incurable stickybeak tendencies, and her lack of faith (How to believe when you can’t know whether it’s true?) I felt we were kindred spirits. On Doubt is Leigh’s defence of the importance of neutrality in journalism. It’s an eloquent manifesto of what, how and why she does it. It is disquieting to notice that, in the 8 years since first publication, things seem to have gone backwards, with fake news and opinionated reports more common than ever.
This edition contains a substantial postscript reflecting on changes to the political and media landscape between 2009 and 2017.
This edition contains a substantial postscript reflecting on changes to the political and media landscape between 2009 and 2017.
January 15, 2018
Cracker of an essay.
Life in the modern age.
Leigh Sales is an ABC journalist here in Aus who is known for her forthright and probing journalistic style.
Initially published in 2009 with an updated afterword at the end.
Stay tuned for my Essay a Week video coming up.
Life in the modern age.
Leigh Sales is an ABC journalist here in Aus who is known for her forthright and probing journalistic style.
Initially published in 2009 with an updated afterword at the end.
Stay tuned for my Essay a Week video coming up.
July 7, 2019
A well researched and thoughtful book - as one would expect from one of Australia’s best journalists. Really glad I read it as it gave me much needed perspective in the current climate where more than ever there is the need to distinguish between fact and opinion.
Read
July 1, 20185/5 easy to read essay and well argued
February 15, 2019
It’s kind of hard to believe that Sales wrote this 10 years ago because it feels so incredibly relevant in our current media/political climate. It’s a short and brilliant read that has given me a lot to think about. Highly recommended!
December 5, 2016
Read it in about 2 hours and was blown away by how lovely the stories were given their content.
I may be biased by my admiration of Leigh Sales rigour as a journalist, but now even more so for the views she presents here.
Would read again, to remind myself to question more...
I may be biased by my admiration of Leigh Sales rigour as a journalist, but now even more so for the views she presents here.
Would read again, to remind myself to question more...
January 9, 2019
Doubt is rarely seen as as desireable but substitute "doubt" for "skepticism" and Sales' essays make perfect sense. This is a thought-provoking read, particularly as Sales comments on the rise of the opinionated columnist, the rise in online media platforms and the breakdown of critical neutrality.
July 26, 2018
Read and enjoyed this interesting, thought provoking look at doubt and how it works for and against us in this current world. I read the 2017 edition.
April 4, 2010
There is certainty. Then there is doubt. There is opinion. Then there is objective truth. There is faith. Then there is trust.
It is a strange state of affairs when we have a journalist, such as Leigh Sales, telling us all about doubt. Journalists might practice doubt, but they certainly don’t produce it, package it, and push it to the public. Journalists peddle certainty, not doubt. This happened. That happened. This person’s an expert. That person’s a victim. Never does a ‘maybe’ or a ‘might’ make the front page headlines. But maybe that’s just a matter of news style and form. Maybe that’s why Leigh Sales wrote an essay on the subject rather than put together a Lateline news bulletin. A news report that could have been followed by an interview with an expert on doubt. An expert that would probably be Leigh Sales now, she has, after-all, produced a book on the subject, albeit a very little book.
For Leigh Sales, doubt is instinctive, a natural state of being. She is uneasy about those who don’t doubt. According to her, people like Sarah Palin, with their “unwavering certainty in themselves and their beliefs and opinions,” suffer from a form of “moral vanity.” But Sales isn’t certain about this. If Sales was certain, she would fall into league with the rest of Australia’s high-profile commentators. That obnoxious bunch of people “who act - in public at least - as if they have never experienced a second of self-doubt or entertained the thought that they might be wrong.�� So Sales might be wrong about doubt, but that doesn’t mean we should disregard her 10,000 word essay. It is after-all an essay. On doubt. Which is what the essay form is all about. Doubt.
According to Sales, most contemporary commentary stinks of certainty. Yet she has a nostalgia for journalists such as Walter Cronkite, Edward R Murrow and Walter Lippman who “were the voices of reason and cool authority”. Surely a writer with a voice of authority would also stink of certainty. But possibly the difference here is a matter of hot authority versus cool authority. Sales infers that the hot authority of the contemporary commentator is achieved by shouting “more inflammatory invective louder than anybody else”.
Cool authority is probably accomplished by following the sage advice of 12th century French philosopher Pierre Abelard, a man that would be the doubt expert sitting opposite Sales in a Lateline interview, that is of course if he wasn’t long dead. The philosophy of Abelard informs much of Sales’ ideas ‘on doubt,’ she even chooses to open the book with a quote from him:
Sales shares the view of the former face of Meet the Press, Tim Russert, who says that he tries “very, very hard not to tell people, ‘This is what I believe’, or ‘This is good’, or ‘This is bad’. But rather, ‘This is what I’m learning in my reporting’.” So cool authority comes from learning, not necessarily from what you have learnt, but rather from acknowledging that you are still learning. Sales writes that the “application of a doubtful mind is the best way to wisdom and insight” and that doubt is “is enshrined in journalism‘s foundations - objectivity and balance”.
But objectivity is a tricky concept, especially for the doubtful mind, and Sales acknowledges this. Sales writes that “no reporter can be perfectly objective - every day every story involves subjective judgments - but if we give up striving for objectivity, if we stop examining ourselves for closed mindedness, then all is lost”. Striving, learning, seeking, and most significantly trying or trialling, these are the tenets of a doubtful mind, but these are also the functions of the essay form.
The word essay was born from the French essayer, to try or to attempt. Sales is in a sense arguing for the essay form. The doubtful mind attempts to understand, or to know. But the doubtful mind never knows, the doubtful mind always has another question to ask, and the doubtful mind is always ready and willing to hear another’s answer.
Sales mentions the recent dispute between Robert Manne and Gerard Henderson. Manne had written an article for the Monthly about radical journalist Wilfred Burchett and Gerard Henderson disagreed with some of what was written. Henderson and Manne debated the topic via email, and then decided to publish all of their email correspondence through their respective journals, the Sydney Institute Quarterly and the Monthly. Sales couldn’t comprehend how each could have such an immovable sense of rightness:
A true essay expresses no illusion of rightness. An essay is an exploration, an attempt. An essay doubts. An essay writer doubts themselves. Sales writes that this is the problem of contemporary commentary. Not enough doubters. I would argue that the problem is that there are not enough essayists. Essayists who write that they lived, they experienced this and they think that. They think. They consider. But most of all: they try. This is the beauty of Melbourne University Press’ Little Books on Big Themes, of which ‘On doubt’ is a part of. Writers are invited to choose a topic, and write a 10,000 word essay on it. They try the topic out. Sales chose doubt. Her second choice was embarrassment. The Little Books bring essays onto the bookshelves and out of the journals. The independent publication of each essay, in its own little book, also seems to withdraw the writer from any particular scene or sphere of influence. There are no battle lines drawn, no binaries, and the culture wars seem to be far off in some distant land.
The Monthly, under Sally Warhaft, was one of the few regular publications that was beginning to foster an essay culture in Australia, but that too, under the influence of Robert Manne, began to regress into the kind of commentary that Sales describes as "more concerned with point-scoring than with educating audiences," a commentary that plays to its ‘own cliques, neglecting the wider public’. The Monthly’s downfall commenced when Manne stonewalled a decision by Warhaft to publish an article by Peter Costello.
According to Gideon Haigh, “Manne stated weightily that The Monthly was a ‘social democrat’ magazine," and that Warhaft was wrong in believing The Monthly to be independent of any cultural or political bias. It is probably naive to expect any publication to be completely independent in the same way it is naive to expect any journalist to be completely objective, but the Monthly under Warhaft strived to be such a publication.
The Monthly doubted itself, it never seemed to be sure of what it was; was it a political journal, was it a cultural magazine, was it a literary review? The Monthly experimented and meandered. It was a publication that always seemed to be attempting to be something, and because of this, it was a publication of doubt. It could have been the journal of essays this country needs, a journal that documents people trying to work things out, a journal where we could read about what people are learning, not what people know. Instead it’s a social democrat magazine.
After reading ‘On doubt,’ I have become a certainty sceptic and a doubt seeker. Sales writes of the culture of certainty in the Bush administration, where Bush told his advisors ‘I don’t need people around me who are not steady... And if there’s a kind of hand-wringing attitude going on when time’s are tough, I don’t like it’. People want certainty in their leaders. We never hear the Prime Minister say "It might work, it might not work, but goddamn-it, we’re going to bloody try". Rudd can’t even admit that the treasury projections are only a possibility, and he doesn’t want to doubt his treasury, they’re experts, and he is a man of faith. In a culture of getting-things-done, doubters aren’t doers, but as Sales writes doubts “prevent us from acting recklessly without regards for consequences.” The world would probably be in a little less trouble if we had a few more doubters, but what do I know, I’m just trying things out.
Review originally posted at my blog The Jackette
It is a strange state of affairs when we have a journalist, such as Leigh Sales, telling us all about doubt. Journalists might practice doubt, but they certainly don’t produce it, package it, and push it to the public. Journalists peddle certainty, not doubt. This happened. That happened. This person’s an expert. That person’s a victim. Never does a ‘maybe’ or a ‘might’ make the front page headlines. But maybe that’s just a matter of news style and form. Maybe that’s why Leigh Sales wrote an essay on the subject rather than put together a Lateline news bulletin. A news report that could have been followed by an interview with an expert on doubt. An expert that would probably be Leigh Sales now, she has, after-all, produced a book on the subject, albeit a very little book.
For Leigh Sales, doubt is instinctive, a natural state of being. She is uneasy about those who don’t doubt. According to her, people like Sarah Palin, with their “unwavering certainty in themselves and their beliefs and opinions,” suffer from a form of “moral vanity.” But Sales isn’t certain about this. If Sales was certain, she would fall into league with the rest of Australia’s high-profile commentators. That obnoxious bunch of people “who act - in public at least - as if they have never experienced a second of self-doubt or entertained the thought that they might be wrong.�� So Sales might be wrong about doubt, but that doesn’t mean we should disregard her 10,000 word essay. It is after-all an essay. On doubt. Which is what the essay form is all about. Doubt.
According to Sales, most contemporary commentary stinks of certainty. Yet she has a nostalgia for journalists such as Walter Cronkite, Edward R Murrow and Walter Lippman who “were the voices of reason and cool authority”. Surely a writer with a voice of authority would also stink of certainty. But possibly the difference here is a matter of hot authority versus cool authority. Sales infers that the hot authority of the contemporary commentator is achieved by shouting “more inflammatory invective louder than anybody else”.
Cool authority is probably accomplished by following the sage advice of 12th century French philosopher Pierre Abelard, a man that would be the doubt expert sitting opposite Sales in a Lateline interview, that is of course if he wasn’t long dead. The philosophy of Abelard informs much of Sales’ ideas ‘on doubt,’ she even chooses to open the book with a quote from him:
The beginning of wisdom is found in doubting; by doubting we come to the question, and by seeking we may come upon the truth.
Sales shares the view of the former face of Meet the Press, Tim Russert, who says that he tries “very, very hard not to tell people, ‘This is what I believe’, or ‘This is good’, or ‘This is bad’. But rather, ‘This is what I’m learning in my reporting’.” So cool authority comes from learning, not necessarily from what you have learnt, but rather from acknowledging that you are still learning. Sales writes that the “application of a doubtful mind is the best way to wisdom and insight” and that doubt is “is enshrined in journalism‘s foundations - objectivity and balance”.
But objectivity is a tricky concept, especially for the doubtful mind, and Sales acknowledges this. Sales writes that “no reporter can be perfectly objective - every day every story involves subjective judgments - but if we give up striving for objectivity, if we stop examining ourselves for closed mindedness, then all is lost”. Striving, learning, seeking, and most significantly trying or trialling, these are the tenets of a doubtful mind, but these are also the functions of the essay form.
The word essay was born from the French essayer, to try or to attempt. Sales is in a sense arguing for the essay form. The doubtful mind attempts to understand, or to know. But the doubtful mind never knows, the doubtful mind always has another question to ask, and the doubtful mind is always ready and willing to hear another’s answer.
Sales mentions the recent dispute between Robert Manne and Gerard Henderson. Manne had written an article for the Monthly about radical journalist Wilfred Burchett and Gerard Henderson disagreed with some of what was written. Henderson and Manne debated the topic via email, and then decided to publish all of their email correspondence through their respective journals, the Sydney Institute Quarterly and the Monthly. Sales couldn’t comprehend how each could have such an immovable sense of rightness:
I can’t understand how each could have felt so certain of his own rightness and of the value of his own opinion that he was prepared to move so many pages of an argument from the private inbox to the public domain.
A true essay expresses no illusion of rightness. An essay is an exploration, an attempt. An essay doubts. An essay writer doubts themselves. Sales writes that this is the problem of contemporary commentary. Not enough doubters. I would argue that the problem is that there are not enough essayists. Essayists who write that they lived, they experienced this and they think that. They think. They consider. But most of all: they try. This is the beauty of Melbourne University Press’ Little Books on Big Themes, of which ‘On doubt’ is a part of. Writers are invited to choose a topic, and write a 10,000 word essay on it. They try the topic out. Sales chose doubt. Her second choice was embarrassment. The Little Books bring essays onto the bookshelves and out of the journals. The independent publication of each essay, in its own little book, also seems to withdraw the writer from any particular scene or sphere of influence. There are no battle lines drawn, no binaries, and the culture wars seem to be far off in some distant land.
The Monthly, under Sally Warhaft, was one of the few regular publications that was beginning to foster an essay culture in Australia, but that too, under the influence of Robert Manne, began to regress into the kind of commentary that Sales describes as "more concerned with point-scoring than with educating audiences," a commentary that plays to its ‘own cliques, neglecting the wider public’. The Monthly’s downfall commenced when Manne stonewalled a decision by Warhaft to publish an article by Peter Costello.
According to Gideon Haigh, “Manne stated weightily that The Monthly was a ‘social democrat’ magazine," and that Warhaft was wrong in believing The Monthly to be independent of any cultural or political bias. It is probably naive to expect any publication to be completely independent in the same way it is naive to expect any journalist to be completely objective, but the Monthly under Warhaft strived to be such a publication.
The Monthly doubted itself, it never seemed to be sure of what it was; was it a political journal, was it a cultural magazine, was it a literary review? The Monthly experimented and meandered. It was a publication that always seemed to be attempting to be something, and because of this, it was a publication of doubt. It could have been the journal of essays this country needs, a journal that documents people trying to work things out, a journal where we could read about what people are learning, not what people know. Instead it’s a social democrat magazine.
After reading ‘On doubt,’ I have become a certainty sceptic and a doubt seeker. Sales writes of the culture of certainty in the Bush administration, where Bush told his advisors ‘I don’t need people around me who are not steady... And if there’s a kind of hand-wringing attitude going on when time’s are tough, I don’t like it’. People want certainty in their leaders. We never hear the Prime Minister say "It might work, it might not work, but goddamn-it, we’re going to bloody try". Rudd can’t even admit that the treasury projections are only a possibility, and he doesn’t want to doubt his treasury, they’re experts, and he is a man of faith. In a culture of getting-things-done, doubters aren’t doers, but as Sales writes doubts “prevent us from acting recklessly without regards for consequences.” The world would probably be in a little less trouble if we had a few more doubters, but what do I know, I’m just trying things out.
Review originally posted at my blog The Jackette
May 11, 2022
This is not a perfect essay in any way and I debated whether to give it 4 or 5 - my 2 main criticisms would be that some of the material is quite out of date now, and that I really wanted some more analysis on doubt. I could say much more and ask many more questions.
The reason I decided to give this a 5 anyway is that it is a thought-provoking and well-written book and I realise the format doesn't allow for too much detail and you can only write so much. Perhaps it is not fair to expect more expansive analysis from this format. And as for it being out of date - again, it was written some time ago, so the examples are older and the critique of "today's society" might be a bit out of date, but the concepts are still sound.
This is thought-provoking though because the importance of doubt is still a relevant and I think will always be a relevant concept. Like Leigh, I am a doubter, a natural born doubter, but I have found it is not always welcome. I have often questioned things but have been told this is not welcome by people who have faith and certainty, or who value agreeableness/harmony/fitting in (rather than what Leigh sees as the opposite of doubt, certainty. This could have been explored more).
I have met some people who see doubt as their friend. One person who was NOT a natural doubter told me he cultivated doubt because he felt he was too certain about things and being able to doubt himself had saved him from doing "some stupid stuff" so he'd actually tried to change his personality from one of being more certain to being more of a doubter.
However, this is, I think, an anomaly. Like Leigh, I think that society generally values certainty and sees it as a strength. In the age of social media you are with "with us or against us" and if you wish to participate you must pick a side and not waver, or else be ridiculed for "backflipping" or being "unreliable" etc. People will try to dig up old posts from many years ago and link them to what you've said now and "hold you to it" so you'd better not contradict yourself - you must be absolutely certain of what you've said at all times.
It seems often that people value "not backflipping" in a politician more than "doing the right thing". That is, a politician who steadfastly did the wrong thing would attract less ridicule rather than one who "backflipped" and changed course when they realised they were wrong. You therefore must never doubt yourself once you've started on a course - or that is how the public encourages you to think.
I don't think it's the healthy way for us to go and I am glad for someone to discuss healthy doubt.
What should we question? Should everything be questioned? How do we question respectfully and intelligently? When is doubt constructive and when does it hinder us? How do we encourage constructive doubt? Where is our society headed with its attitude towards questioning others, and people who question themselves? Is it better to have as leaders and influential people, people who entertain self doubt or who doubt others/question things around them, or people whose faith and certainty in their beliefs is strong and established?
The reason I decided to give this a 5 anyway is that it is a thought-provoking and well-written book and I realise the format doesn't allow for too much detail and you can only write so much. Perhaps it is not fair to expect more expansive analysis from this format. And as for it being out of date - again, it was written some time ago, so the examples are older and the critique of "today's society" might be a bit out of date, but the concepts are still sound.
This is thought-provoking though because the importance of doubt is still a relevant and I think will always be a relevant concept. Like Leigh, I am a doubter, a natural born doubter, but I have found it is not always welcome. I have often questioned things but have been told this is not welcome by people who have faith and certainty, or who value agreeableness/harmony/fitting in (rather than what Leigh sees as the opposite of doubt, certainty. This could have been explored more).
I have met some people who see doubt as their friend. One person who was NOT a natural doubter told me he cultivated doubt because he felt he was too certain about things and being able to doubt himself had saved him from doing "some stupid stuff" so he'd actually tried to change his personality from one of being more certain to being more of a doubter.
However, this is, I think, an anomaly. Like Leigh, I think that society generally values certainty and sees it as a strength. In the age of social media you are with "with us or against us" and if you wish to participate you must pick a side and not waver, or else be ridiculed for "backflipping" or being "unreliable" etc. People will try to dig up old posts from many years ago and link them to what you've said now and "hold you to it" so you'd better not contradict yourself - you must be absolutely certain of what you've said at all times.
It seems often that people value "not backflipping" in a politician more than "doing the right thing". That is, a politician who steadfastly did the wrong thing would attract less ridicule rather than one who "backflipped" and changed course when they realised they were wrong. You therefore must never doubt yourself once you've started on a course - or that is how the public encourages you to think.
I don't think it's the healthy way for us to go and I am glad for someone to discuss healthy doubt.
What should we question? Should everything be questioned? How do we question respectfully and intelligently? When is doubt constructive and when does it hinder us? How do we encourage constructive doubt? Where is our society headed with its attitude towards questioning others, and people who question themselves? Is it better to have as leaders and influential people, people who entertain self doubt or who doubt others/question things around them, or people whose faith and certainty in their beliefs is strong and established?
July 14, 2021
Reflections and lessons learned:
“The only thing that I found faith in was doubt…”
I had no preconceptions about this book going in apart from the title and having enjoyed others in the series, but yet again this completely struck a chord on finer details that I’ve not previously been able to put my finger on when struggling with the wider topics. Despite being first written in 2009 it feels more relevant than ever, almost predicting the change that social media brought, and possibly as a result the change in journalism and politics.
For many years I could only vote with conviction for the Liberal party as to me they often balanced the two sides of the presented argument. I’ve always attempted to be an advocate of taking the side of the devil in discussions as I think it’s the right thing to be an advocate, someone to try and catch the possibilities that may not have been considered, or worse, dismissed as part of an agenda. As a quote from the book states “Without a doubtful mind I don’t think that I’d have as much fun”. Do I feel strongly about subjects? Absolutely, but I was raised in a time when being a fence sitter was the educated and socially responsible approach - in recent years this has left me feeling hurt and confused as it’s no longer the norm and this recognised liberal approach hasn’t been taken on by future generations to further this fairness. What happened…?
This book starts with a slight change in modern US politics as the cult of Palin came out - a female politician that showed confidence and conviction, but was she on the right side? Should it have mattered - some professions should naturally have unshakeable uncertainty - without that do they demonstrate leadership qualities? Throughout reading this was the example of the Corbyn dilemma to me - a man portrayed to be popular in the press but not at the polls - was it because he lacked conviction in his own arguments, letting the doubt show? Was it simply the echo chambers misleading the public who could not see behind these platforms? Authenticity should triumph and confidence is attractive. A large area which has also changed is journalism - the traditional fact finding stories now swapped for the opinion pieces. In a time of deniers and heretics a minority voice is needed to challenge prevailing orthodoxy each time. Objectivity; Instinct vs conscious thought;
Adaptive thought; Ideologic lines separation. Doubt lowers the natural hubris and planning puts natural doubt to rest - a great summary of a future that all of us saw coming
“A doubtful mind comes with major drawbacks… anxiety and a lack of all consuming passion”
“The simple truth is that I don’t know and I’m not afraid to admit it”
“The only thing that I found faith in was doubt…”
I had no preconceptions about this book going in apart from the title and having enjoyed others in the series, but yet again this completely struck a chord on finer details that I’ve not previously been able to put my finger on when struggling with the wider topics. Despite being first written in 2009 it feels more relevant than ever, almost predicting the change that social media brought, and possibly as a result the change in journalism and politics.
For many years I could only vote with conviction for the Liberal party as to me they often balanced the two sides of the presented argument. I’ve always attempted to be an advocate of taking the side of the devil in discussions as I think it’s the right thing to be an advocate, someone to try and catch the possibilities that may not have been considered, or worse, dismissed as part of an agenda. As a quote from the book states “Without a doubtful mind I don’t think that I’d have as much fun”. Do I feel strongly about subjects? Absolutely, but I was raised in a time when being a fence sitter was the educated and socially responsible approach - in recent years this has left me feeling hurt and confused as it’s no longer the norm and this recognised liberal approach hasn’t been taken on by future generations to further this fairness. What happened…?
This book starts with a slight change in modern US politics as the cult of Palin came out - a female politician that showed confidence and conviction, but was she on the right side? Should it have mattered - some professions should naturally have unshakeable uncertainty - without that do they demonstrate leadership qualities? Throughout reading this was the example of the Corbyn dilemma to me - a man portrayed to be popular in the press but not at the polls - was it because he lacked conviction in his own arguments, letting the doubt show? Was it simply the echo chambers misleading the public who could not see behind these platforms? Authenticity should triumph and confidence is attractive. A large area which has also changed is journalism - the traditional fact finding stories now swapped for the opinion pieces. In a time of deniers and heretics a minority voice is needed to challenge prevailing orthodoxy each time. Objectivity; Instinct vs conscious thought;
Adaptive thought; Ideologic lines separation. Doubt lowers the natural hubris and planning puts natural doubt to rest - a great summary of a future that all of us saw coming
“A doubtful mind comes with major drawbacks… anxiety and a lack of all consuming passion”
“The simple truth is that I don’t know and I’m not afraid to admit it”
November 10, 2020
After reading Any Ordinary Day, I never doubted that this would be a little ripper! Leigh Sales brings her prodigious analytical skills to the question of doubt. In a world where opinion trumps fact and to harbour doubts is to be seen as weak, Sales explores the benefits of doubt and not viewing dissenting opinions as worthless and your own opinion as unassailable.
On religious fundamentalism, Sales calls into question people who think: “I believe in something for which there is no irrefutable proof, yet in spite of that, I am so certain of my own opinion that I can declare that you are going to hell for not sharing it”.
On political ideology, Sales quotes Hendrik Hertzberg: “A political ideology is a very handy thing to have. It’s a real time saver because it tells you what you think about things you know nothing about”.
Sales also critiques George W Bush’s decisive leadership style among other political leaders, suggesting that making snap decisions works if you have vast experience in the issues at hand, but doesn’t work if you don’t.
🎧 Louise Crawford’s narration suited the text, being succinct and friendly as needed.
On religious fundamentalism, Sales calls into question people who think: “I believe in something for which there is no irrefutable proof, yet in spite of that, I am so certain of my own opinion that I can declare that you are going to hell for not sharing it”.
On political ideology, Sales quotes Hendrik Hertzberg: “A political ideology is a very handy thing to have. It’s a real time saver because it tells you what you think about things you know nothing about”.
Sales also critiques George W Bush’s decisive leadership style among other political leaders, suggesting that making snap decisions works if you have vast experience in the issues at hand, but doesn’t work if you don’t.
🎧 Louise Crawford’s narration suited the text, being succinct and friendly as needed.
March 24, 2021
I mean it’s no secret I totally love Leigh Sales! One of the most incredible journalists, the type of journalist we need more of.
This incredible essay, recently republished discusses so many important issues about the world today, how power is held, how accountability is waning and principally how doubt is something that should be celebrated.
As someone who has always asked unpopular questions, and has always sought to problematise binary positions, this book resonated in just so many ways.
The authenticity of Leigh and her ability to discuss such nuance and succinctly is really quite incredible. First published 2009, so many of the fears written about at the time have been realised, and the state of play has changed substantially, but the relevance and importance of this book has not at all faded!
This incredible essay, recently republished discusses so many important issues about the world today, how power is held, how accountability is waning and principally how doubt is something that should be celebrated.
As someone who has always asked unpopular questions, and has always sought to problematise binary positions, this book resonated in just so many ways.
The authenticity of Leigh and her ability to discuss such nuance and succinctly is really quite incredible. First published 2009, so many of the fears written about at the time have been realised, and the state of play has changed substantially, but the relevance and importance of this book has not at all faded!
September 26, 2017
Short, sharp and to the point, this essay, written in 2008 and re-published recently with a 2017 postscript, examines the notion of facts from the perspective of doubt. Sales explores the values of truth and accountability, arguing that it is only when we are curious and demand scrutiny that we begin to form an objective understanding. Blind faith, over-confidence, a certainty that our opinions are facts - these are the enemies of reasoned logic in our post-truth world. And Sales believes that doubt - the desire to ask and seek clarity - is the only real answer to overcoming the instability and 'shouters' of our time. An informative read.
March 5, 2018
A plea for reason and skepticism, Sales originally wrote this essay in 2008. (In a postscript, she wryly comments on how every issue she brings up in the original text is worse in 2017.) It's a calm, reasoned plea for healthy skepticism - not so much denying the existence of fake news as asking that we be able to prove the fakeness if we're making that claim. Sales positions doubt as a virtue, seeing it as a necessary precondition to open-mindedness and truth-seeking. It's also, strangely enough, a fun read, enlivened with personal anecdotes and the odd example from her work and that of her colleagues in the world of journalism. Definitely worth your time.
September 30, 2017
For those who don't know Leigh Sales is an Australian journalist who has fronted news programs such as Lateline and the 7.30 Report on the ABC. The one thing that is universally accepted by all is that there is no pleasure to be had by politician when they are being interviewed by Leigh Sales. She is determined to cut through the carefully rehearsed talking points, uncover the truth and is respected by all.
‘On Doubt’ was originally penned by Sales in 2009, with an additional chapter being included in 2017. For a short essay, Sales manages to cram in a lot of big ideas and themes. From her own beginnings as that rebellious child always asking why to a journalist wondering about the future of the profession.
A short, highly insightful read and it you are budding journalist you need to read this.
‘On Doubt’ was originally penned by Sales in 2009, with an additional chapter being included in 2017. For a short essay, Sales manages to cram in a lot of big ideas and themes. From her own beginnings as that rebellious child always asking why to a journalist wondering about the future of the profession.
A short, highly insightful read and it you are budding journalist you need to read this.
February 25, 2018
Leigh Sales' On Doubt is a thought-provoking meditation on the value of constant questioning and testing of accepted truths. Originally published in 2009, this edition was re-released in September 2017 with a postscript from Sales in which she describes 2009 as a "golden era" compared with today. It should be required reading for the "post-truth" world.
January 16, 2023
A thoughtful perspective on doubt, certainty and the rising prevalence of opinion vs fact, this essay from 2009 predates most of today's social media (which are now integral to discussing these issues). I found it interesting to see a snapshot into 2009 and the key politicians and movements compared to today.
The addendum from 2017 added a great re-evaluation of how the information channels, media and political landscape had changed over less than a decade, causing those issues Sales identified to escalate at an alarming rate.
An insightful, quick read (or listen)!
The addendum from 2017 added a great re-evaluation of how the information channels, media and political landscape had changed over less than a decade, causing those issues Sales identified to escalate at an alarming rate.
An insightful, quick read (or listen)!
April 2, 2024
This book is a bit of a grab-bag of observations, not all of which are closely tied to the theme of 'doubt'. It could almost do with another post-script, given the rise of deep fakes and AI which frighten me for the way that they undercut even what we have seen (or think we have seen). However, it's an easy enough read- not unlike a long-form article that remains at a largely surface level and with its main interest in the political realm.
For my complete review, please visit:
https://residentjudge.com/2024/04/02/...
For my complete review, please visit:
https://residentjudge.com/2024/04/02/...
October 10, 2017
Disclaimer: huge admirer of Leigh Sales and always considered her to be a balanced journalist ... one of the few things I don't doubt :) Need to keep in mind that it's more an essay than a book and, as such, a short read. I didn't read the 2008 original, but it's telling how much more partisan we've become in the last decade. Worth the price of admission alone for the Catcher in the Rye comment.
October 10, 2017
An easily accessible, highly engaging essay about the importance of doubt in our world and how we are losing our appreciation for it. Sales outlines the benefits of doubt in everything from journalism and politics to everyday life, ultimately arguing that doubt is one of the best qualities we can hold.
January 30, 2018
A wide ranging, well-crafted essay on the problem of certainty. Sales effortlessly integrates the personal and public spheres to paint a picture of a post-apocalyptic world where not only doubt, but nuance can’t survive. I exaggerate, but you get the idea. A welcome addition to a world that seems to constantly be shouting: ‘If you’re not for us, you’re against us.’
May 7, 2018
A good little essay about the virtues of doubt (questioning ideas and opinions, remaining open to being wrong, etc) in the current media and political landscape where unswerving certainty is valued, opinion journalism is dominant over objective journalism, and echo chambers are increasingly common. Even more relevant today than when it was first published in 2009.
May 14, 2018
Leigh Sales'es book is definitely a little book on a big theme. A really well written book.
Prefered the parts of the book from author's childhood and her own life as well as work. The story of Abelard an Heloise have the right place in this book.
Parts of the book about various Australian and American politician would be more intetesting if read 5 years ago.
Prefered the parts of the book from author's childhood and her own life as well as work. The story of Abelard an Heloise have the right place in this book.
Parts of the book about various Australian and American politician would be more intetesting if read 5 years ago.
June 7, 2018
It’s Leigh Sales so what else is there to say???
Ok then, this essay written in 2009 but published in 2017 is even more relevant in the Trump era. Leigh believes in doubt, to question everything from the pollies, from the media and even yourself - probably what makes her one fine journalist even more so when she is interviewing on ABCs 730.
Ok then, this essay written in 2009 but published in 2017 is even more relevant in the Trump era. Leigh believes in doubt, to question everything from the pollies, from the media and even yourself - probably what makes her one fine journalist even more so when she is interviewing on ABCs 730.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews