my opinion:

[hank_rearden]

false edges are often put on fighting knives for two reasons:

1. doing so creates a cruciform cross-section on the tip which strenthens it for thrusting and,

2. grinding additional metal off the end helps to trick out the heft and balance of the knife.
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for utility knives (like the one pictured), a dull spine has all the other advantages like ease in sharpening near the tip, less drag while skinning and easier penetration when thrusting into soft objects due to the triangular cross-section.

 

[rlinger]

Well described. I believe its primary reason for developement was for lightening the blade and provide better balance, which you did suggest. We find false edges now on some smaller knives which suggests, to me, that there is a liking for them for looks and beliefs in benefits true or false.

Roger