I agree. I started out asking why guys brief it, looking to learn. BOAC got a little nasty and I probably dug in my heels. Your example of mentioning MSA is as it relates to the mountains/sea makes perfect sense. The guys who I fly with who throw it out there and never give it a second thought do not make sense to me.
But once again, I never brought up GPWS. I specifically said I would never use that as a safet net.