When I was in class learning about Markovnikov's rule, the whole concept of carbocation stability was drilled into my brain with one golden rule: alkyl groups are electron-donating. We were taught that those little methyl groups act like generous friends, pushing electron density onto that poor, positive carbon atom via the "+I effect", or the inductive effect to save it from collapsing. It made perfect sense on paper and helped us pass our exams. Turns out, it was also compl