I'm fascinated by its first use as a golf ball finder. I frequently have the idea that my subconscious has a much better idea where my ball went than my conscio

I'm fascinated by its first use as a golf ball finder. I frequently have the idea that my subconscious has a much better idea where my ball went than my conscious mind does when my central vision loses the ball (or never had it). You need to at least partially believe or suspend disbelief regarding such a mechanism for it work. I similarly wonder if the micro facial ticks or subconscious "gives" from an attacker could be read by the user of the fake bomb detector. Essentially the device let's people make judgment calls using their "gut" feeling instead of being distracted by conscious false assurances. Don't read this as justifying the fraud, just that the device may have a slightly greater than zero value. In a very different way than intended. If the choice was this security theater plus subconscious unlocker or nothing, maybe it was the right call. The problem with eliminating the fraud is that the slight value vanishes if no one believes in it.