Checking the pitot heat for a day VFR flight is neither a requirement[*], nor a necessity. It is an opportunity, and a service to the next pilot.
If you discover it to be inop before a night VFR or IFR flight, the flight is no-go (unless you can get it fixed immediately, which you usually can't). If you discover it to be inop before a day VFR flight, you can write it up, the flight is a go anyway, and there is a chance for maintenance to fix it before the next IFR or night VFR flight.
Regarding the two groups theory, it is rather simpler than what is being said. One group looks at new ideas as something to be looked into, assessed, and then adopted or disgarded after careful consideration; or as something to be ignored, at their own pleasure. The other group looks at new ideas as something that is different from what they do, therefore wrong.
One group thinks they are the only ones who know how to have fun, and look with contempt at those whose idea of a good time differ. The other group couldn't care less what the first group thinks.
And most significantly: One group is focused on their own flying, and the other group is concerned with how others fly. I'm in the first group!
[*] edited to add: it might be a requirement depending on jurisdiction, but since a few previous posters take a rather dim view on regulations, maybe we can leave that out...
