The Misunderstood Villain: How 'Bad Guys' Achieve Extraordinary Success

What if the true heroes of history are actually the villains we’ve been taught to despise?

Dear unlearners,

You might be wondering why I'm calling you "unlearners." Well, it's simple. To truly grow, we often need to unlearn what we think we know. And today, we are going to unlearn:

Our perception of villains.

I've got a confession to make. All my life, I've had a soft spot for the bad guys. My favorite characters in movies and stories have rarely been the heroes. I'd find myself quietly rooting for the villains, baffled when they inevitably lost.

As we'll see, the line between hero and villain isn't as clear as we might think, and there's much to learn from those society labels as the antagonists.

The truth is, the line between heroes and villains is often determined by which side of history you're on. Everyone can be a hero from the perspective of the winner. Everyone is the hero of their own story.

History is full of examples of this blurred line. Take Genghis Khan, for instance. To the West, he was a brutal conqueror. But to Mongolians, he's a revered national hero who united…