I've been reading through some of these posts on the study of the Dark Side, and I think that in the quest for knowledge, sometimes a certain amount of ignorance in certain things is bliss. You can tell a child to not stick his or her hand into the fire. They can either trust you and obey, or they can think you don't know what your talking about and try and catch it and wind up burning themselves to various degrees. Either way, the child learns that putting one's hand in the fire causes pain and harm. But all things considered it would be better if the child had listened in the first place and not burned themselves.

In many respects the Dark Side is simply Self. Selfish actions, Self-Centeredness. The Fear of losing what you think will make you happy and the burning and craving to get more. It is indeed a part of every Human Being. It says "I'm going to get what I want irregardless of who I have to hurt to get it." It holds grudges and does not forgive.It operates through Anger and Hatred. It sees itself as the only true arbiter of right and wrong, it is right and everyone else is wrong (Only the Sith see things in absolutes - Obi-Wan Kenobi). The Dark Side starts ethnic cleansings and genocides in the name of religion. The Dark Side sees what's wrong with everyone else, but remains sinless in its own eyes. The Dark Side refuses to admit it has done anything wrong or could possibly do anything wrong and will kill to protect this false image it has of itself.

I would listen to Master Yoda's warnings about the Dark Side, and heed them well. Don't start down that path. It only leads to one's self destruction. If you doubt this, just check out the local prison populations, or any given day on the news. Too many people give way to the Dark Side and the world shows the scars and wounds from it.

One must admit the Dark Side exists within themselves, (He who says he has no sin deceives himself and the Truth is not within him). But admitting its existence and turning to it are two different things.

Yes, I'm being a bit preachy. I've just seen too many people think they can play with fire without getting burned and then find out they've been consumed before they realize what has happened to them.