As for your first point, just because there was something there, does not mean that something was sentient. A force can have a physical source without being sentient. I can grab a magnet, and in doing so have an effect on its magnetic field, but that doesn't mean the magnet is sentient.
As for...
Something did speak directly to people. That doesn't mean there was a consciousness behind it.
It's interesting that only channelers ever hear the Dark One.
Demandred hears the voice of the Dark One in the prologue to Lord of Chaos. He describes it as agony and ecstasy. The same as the feeling...
Okay, I know it's been a while since anybody posted here, but I'm new to the forums. I have a theory that I'd like to test, so please, rip it to shreds if you can:
There is no Dark One.
At least, not the way everybody thinks there is. I think there is a force, the True Power, that was sealed...