Peter,
Is this true when you are playing your home course, which I assume you know intimately, including all the architectural features. It's easy to play a very familiar course by rote after hundreds or thousands of plays. Do you find the same if you are playing a less familiar course.
Bryan - just getting back to you after travelling for two days. Funny is that I have been wanting to get back to the site and ask a similar question.
Yes - this is true of my home course, and I also feel even without the gun it is easy to play it by rote. Do others think that familiarity with a course leads to playing without much thought? I would imagine so.
At an unfamiliar course, I am sure is also easy to simply get a number and hit the shot. But I have also played a few places with caddies and it can be the same thing: "here is your yardage and aim it here."
But I have one more question for discussion - is it bad for your game to play this way? While certainly it may take us out of touch with some of the architectural aspects of the course, sometimes playing this way may prove to be better for some players (see Geoff Ogilvy article in Golf World -
http://www.golfdigest.com/golfworld/columnists/2007/12/gw20071228diaz).
I guess it all comes back to your purpose in playing the game? If you want an authentic, traditional golf experience, ditch the laser and walk the course. But there are also times where it can serve a good purpose and help out.