The Dark side as it were, is all of the aspects of ourselves individually and collectively that we disavow. The problem is that it becomes autonomous and has a life of its own – a spirit complex if you will. If we don’t face it and transform it, we’ll project it outward onto the tribe over the hill or onto anything that threatens our worldview/identity, such as the skeptics or the believers.Wait a minute :) My conclusion is that there isn't all that much to learn from the dark side. It's like Skepticism, designed to look deep and complex, but really shallow and uninteresting. It's there, sure... but we need only "look up".
take on step toward god/white-light-thingie and he/she/it will take 10 toward you.
If we demonize our natural instincts they can possess us and we may act out their agenda as with pedophile priests.
I agree there’s not much to learn from evil in itself because it’s ultimately an illusion of our creation although I think it’s imperative that we understand it. The Buddhists would agree with you: evil is really just acting out of ignorance and we need to wake up or “look up” which isn’t always so easy.