What is one fear you had as a child that you completely overcame as you grew older?

Do you think empathy is what defines someone a human being or do you believe in something more dimensional than this? Maybe the fact our rainbow levels of perceptions, philosophy, flexibility and our ideas are what makes human than empathy?
When one side has greater power to shape public discourse and condemns another for actions it may also engage in, how can we distinguish legitimate criticism of double standards from whataboutism used to deflect criticism?