After reading Thoreau's "Where I lived, and What I Lived For", Hawking's "Our Picture of the Universe" and Benedict's "The Individual and the Pattern of Culture" I was able to notice some of the essential questions addressed in their discipline.
It was easier for me to notice the essential questions addressed in Hawking's, "Our Picture of the Universe" where he reviews old successful theories and theories found to be "wrong" in his greater interest in finding out why we are here and where we come from. Here Steven Hawking tells what a theory should be and the two components it must have to be good. He puts his point of view by mentioning that he does not agree to some of the theories made already in the past in which have already been proven "wrong" in his discipline. For example, he describes Newton's law of gravity and the newer theory Einstein came up with and explains how new theories come to be after greater research and newer findings. He noticed an implication on the general theory of relativity and quantum mechanics theory and suggested that they could not both be correct. He states that even if sufficient research and theories have been made to accurately predict certain things within his discipline, the question of our existence and purpose in the world still remains unanswered. Hawking's did a very good job in addressing essential questions about his point of view, purpose, question he wants to know, information already used in his discipline (theories), inferences of the theories he finds to be correct or incorrect, assumptions and implications in his discipline.
I had a little bit of a hard time noticing the essential questions included in Thoreau's "Where I lived, and What I lived For". Thoreau Walden was basically interested in discovering the necessary facts of life in order to find out on what he had been missing out about life which was his purpose in his discipline. To further his knowledge about his discipline, he decided to move out and live with the minimum amount of necessities need to live. Then he started asking himself questions and carefully analyzing life and how people chose to live it. He wondered if people should start living like baboons or like men and pointed out specific questions about why people have numerous affairs, and many other factors that make their lives more complex when it should be simple. He wonders why people always decide to live life in a hurry when life should be taken slowly and actually enjoy it. As he says this he also mentions things he feels might not be necessary to people like newspaper, and how society (specifically adults) should focus more on the meaningful things in life like children do. With his opinions about life he addresses questions that include points of view seen in his discipline, purpose of his study away from society, questions he asks himself and inferences out his humanities discipline.
In Benedict's "The Individual and the Pattern of Culture" the author also addresses some of the essential questions in her social sciences/anthropology discipline. She studies the social norms seen in different societies around the world, by this she examines individuals and their culture. She provides some information about some assumptions in her discipline like the inheritances of conflict between individuals and the needs of society in which she denies to be true. She also provides very informative information about her discipline by stating that there is "no proper antagonism between the role of society and of an individual". She believes that other cultures should be studied without being judged. She addressed questions that address her understanding of her discipline as well as her reasoning for her conclusions.
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