[nomel]

> The checklists bring the aircraft back to a known state.

No, it doesn't, clearly. It provides a procedure that can be followed to put it to a known state, but its existence does not put it into a known state, with certainty. A reset puts it into a known state, with certainty. That known reset state probable wouldn't be useful, but can be set to be least-damaging, where a checklist can then be used to then put it into a "good" state.

My assumption is that many planes don't allow a reset to be trivial, since levers and whatnot are involved.

I also assume the FAA/military has done research into this and, probably, found that requiring a manual checklist resulted in stricter adherence to the checklist.

[throwawayboise]

> My assumption is that many planes don't allow a reset to be trivial, since levers and whatnot are involved.

I think you are correct -- not everything is a software setting. There are physical switches and dials and other mechanical controls involved.