In my experience, it's always been easier for me to implement something once I've seen a working example of it. That's basically what examples are for: A "cheat sheet" for reverse engineers.

Software is only easier to write than read if you have an idea what it's supposed to do. If you've ever googled "how do I do X?", then you likely have reverse engineered the answer you found to fit your particular use case.

In addition, and in some countries, you can't patent software (thankfully), and so innovation comes through reverse engineering naturally.