Episodes
| Episode | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | 20110306 | Are we fooled into thinking we know it all? Has the immediacy of information and knowledge created an illusion that we have all the answers and therefore don't want or feel the need to challenge or doubt our actions and the world around us? Mark Vernon came face to face with these issues having studied physics, been ordained in the Church of England and then lost his faith. In this programme he looks at why we have a lust for certainty and are loosing our ability to doubt and question well. 'Doubt has become a bad word. It's associated with fear and failure' he says. But how have we arrived at this situation? Why do we feel uneasy if politicians or religious leaders express doubts in public? Mark looks at how this attitude has affected the worlds of politics and finance. And tries to see whether a mistaken view of science and the way our brains work might give us answers. Producers: Amanda Hancox and Rosie Dawson. Mark Vernon asks whether we have lost our ability to doubt well. Mark Vernon examines how desire for certainty has affected people's ability to doubt |
| 02 | 20110313 | We take things very personally at the moment. People get very disturbed and angry when their certainties about themselves and their world are questioned.' So says the philosopher Angie Hobbs. But why? In this programme the writer Mark Vernon, who himself had a crisis of faith, looks at our attitudes towards doubt and certainty. In conversations with David Jenkins, the former Bishop of Durham, Karen Armstrong, Ann Widdecombe and a variety of scientists and philosophers, he explores the art of doubting and our the ability to question well. He discovers that if we can master this art, it can help us to flourish and become more fully human. Producers: Amanda Hancox and Rosie Dawson. Mark Vernon asks whether we have lost our ability to doubt well. Mark Vernon examines how desire for certainty has affected people's ability to doubt |