> perhaps humans also mostly reason using previous examples rather than thinking from scratch.

Although we would like AI to be better here, the worse problem is that, unlike humans, you can’t get the LLM to understand its mistake and then move forward with that newfound understanding. While the LLM tries to respond appropriately and indulge you when you indicate the mistake, further dialog usually exhibits noncommittal behavior by the LLM, and the mistaken interpretation tends to sneak back in. You generally don’t get the feeling of “now it gets it”, and instead it tends to feels more like someone with no real understanding (but very good memory of relevant material) trying to bullshit-technobabble around the issue.