Bud, there's buffoonery across all platforms, whether single piloted or multi-crew, jets or choppers, in which checklists were ignored and mishaps occured.And it was someone in your community that had to write an Approach article, after doing a high speed abort because he didn't unfold his wings. I'm guessing that's in a checklist, somewhere?
Ask HAL - he's probably started/taxied/taken off more times than all of us combined. Yet, I'm guessing he still uses a checklist.
I get what you're saying, and whether or not it's right or wrong, it's just the way it is in the pointy nose world...most checklists are memorized. It's the way I was taught, and the way I taught my Cones when I was an IP.
S/F