...without an understanding of what the reasoning problems are, it will not be
  possible to implement their solutions. Plausible as this Platonic argument may
  seem, it is in fact controversial in the context of AI...

It's even conceivable that reverse-engineering the brain might succeed first; though that approach didn't work for flight. In fact, the problem of flight wasn't well understood until some time after its solution was implemented. Same with light bulbs, and electricity itself. Actually, practice-first seems to have been the general rule; and theory-first is the exception (such as the theory of relativity).

Iteration (aka trial-and-error) can solve problems you don't yet understand.