“Eventually, the good guys capture an evil alien ship, and go exploring inside it. The captain of the good guys finds the alien bridge, and on the bridge is a lever. “Ah,” says the captain, “this must be the lever that makes the ship dematerialize!” So he pries up the control lever and carries it back to his ship, after which his ship can also dematerialize.”
This type of thing is known to happen in real life, when technology gaps are so large that people have no idea what generates the magic. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult.
“Eventually, the good guys capture an evil alien ship, and go exploring inside it. The captain of the good guys finds the alien bridge, and on the bridge is a lever. “Ah,” says the captain, “this must be the lever that makes the ship dematerialize!” So he pries up the control lever and carries it back to his ship, after which his ship can also dematerialize.”
This type of thing is known to happen in real life, when technology gaps are so large that people have no idea what generates the magic. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult.