"You've all been selected for this mission because you each have a special skill. Professor Hawking, John Leslie, Phil Neville, the Wu-Tang Clan, Usher, the Sugar Puffs Monster and Daniel Day-Lewis! Welcome to Operation MindFuck!"
Babylon 5 did a wonderful scene about those once. Two guys using one as they talk, and one suddenly says to the other "Hey... what does this thing actually do, anyway? I mean, we just wave it about like this... the floor is no cleaner... what's the point of it?"
Give a man a fire, and you keep him warm for a day. SET a man on fire, and you will keep him warm for the rest of his life...