Pingbacks, why allow them?

I have read a lot of pingbacks and trackbacks but most pages I have read just talk about what they are and how to impletement them. I have not been able to find any discussion on WHY we would use them.

I would love to hear from anyone who thinks it is a good idea to allow others to post pingbacks on my blog. I can think of many reasons not to, such as: they are ugly, they add no value to my post, they are nonsensical to the reader who thinks it is a supposed to be a legitimate comment, they have the potential to take my readers away from my blog, etc, etc.

But I have never seen any explanation of a benefit to allowing others to post pingbacks on my posts.

Is there any benefit?