<p>Prompt: Is criticism-judging or finding fault with the ideas and actions of others-essential for personal well being and social progress?</p>
<p>For many of us, it's very challenging to refute ideas or the actions of others that are widely acknowledged. They way that people look at us when we challenge the popular ideas often hinders us from doing so. However, for the betterment of our society, criticism is necessary. It is something that can advance the social progress by enlightening people with the legitimate truth.</p>
<p>One person who illustrates the importance of criticism is Alfred Wegener. As a geologist, he was always suspicious of his fellow geologits' explanation for the volcanic activities and earthquakes. He believed that there must be a flaw to their ideas. One day, while looking at the world map, he realized that each of the continents seem to form a single unity like a puzzle. From this view, he came up with the Plate Tactoic Theory which stated that when the earth was formed, there was only one continent. And as time went on, the continents began to split. He explained that earthquakes and volcanic activities are caused by the movement of continents. His idea was initially rejected by the majority of geolgists, but eventually it was proven to be true. This led to people's better understanding of various natural occurences of the earth. His criticism of widely acknowledged idea contributed to the improvement in social progress.</p>
<p>Martin Luther is another individual who demonstrated the importance of criticism. As a monk, Luther questioned the way to get heaven. Like everyone else believed, he also believed that by following the orders of the church, he can get to heaven. But as he saw corruptions within the church such as selling of indulgences, he realized that this must be wrong. And there should a legitimate way to get to heaven. Eventually, he came up with the idea of Justification through faith which stated that the only way to get to heaven is to soley have faith in God. There's no need to follow the churches' orders. This idea became widely popular and eventually, it led to the fall of Roman Catholic Church. Luther's criticism of the popular idea of following the church's order helped to free people from corrupt church and led to an improvment in society.</p>
<p>(Didnt have time to write conclusion)</p>