Although our company is B737 iso B777 I'll give you our training department's vision (same philosophy for all Boeing models).
The logic of the checklist is the following:
1. Fly a safe pitch & power setting
2. Fly a known pitch & power setting
3. Compare the ASI with the known pitch & power settings to identifiy which ones are still reliable.
4. Use the reliable ASI
(This is a change to the old checklist, where the ASI's were compared with the other ASI's)
That being said, the checklist is written for all scenario's. We are being taught that some common sense does apply
If it is very obvious what is going on (like the cruise example above) you are actually already in step 2 so there is no use for the step 1 (memory items).
However, if there is any doubt or it is not immediately clear what is going on, buy yourself some time by applying the memory items. Then you can calmly investigate with the checklist.
The memory items are written in that way that at higher altitudes you will have a descent and at lower altitudes a shallow climb while always staying within the low & high speed limits.