The Dark Side is complicated. The Jedi and organizations based on their beliefs (like the Sith) believe in the Dark Side as a Thing, but there is little evidence it actually is. Let me rephrase that, in TPM, Qui-Gon says that your focus determines your reality and, for Force users, that literally becomes true. The Jedi and the Sith experience using their emotions to direct the flow of the Force as the Dark Side, because that's what they've been raised to see it as, but other groups of Force sensitives and Force users have entirely different conceptions of the Force. The Bendu, for example, uses what Kanan thinks of as the Dark Side with no ill effects because he fundamentally conceives of and interacts with the Force in a different way.
The Dark Side when wielding by a non-Sith looks identical to the Force wielded by anyone. The thing that makes the Sith evil is not that they use the Force in a heightened emotional state (i.e. the Dark Side), but rather that they choose to use it to do bad things. The Dark Side is potentially harmful psychologically and physiologically because it basically creates an emotional feedback loop. Say you use the Force when you're angry. Your anger colors the Force around you, so the next time you reach for the Force you're feeling an echo of your anger which effects your current mood. Human bodies and brains aren't made to feel intense emotions all the time, so I imagine it might put strain on the heart or give you symptoms of depression or anxiety or something.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2019-02-05 07:46 pm (UTC)The Dark Side when wielding by a non-Sith looks identical to the Force wielded by anyone. The thing that makes the Sith evil is not that they use the Force in a heightened emotional state (i.e. the Dark Side), but rather that they choose to use it to do bad things. The Dark Side is potentially harmful psychologically and physiologically because it basically creates an emotional feedback loop. Say you use the Force when you're angry. Your anger colors the Force around you, so the next time you reach for the Force you're feeling an echo of your anger which effects your current mood. Human bodies and brains aren't made to feel intense emotions all the time, so I imagine it might put strain on the heart or give you symptoms of depression or anxiety or something.