In the short piece linked, physicist Dmitri Krioukov makes the case that we must expect complex systems (such as brains) to reduce to simple physical systems. Furthermore, he cautions that the pure collection of increasingly-large quantities of data on the anatomy and physiology of brains can not be productive in itself; success can only proceed through forward inference from the appropriate theoretical models. In fact, data-collection is only useful at this point insofar as it prompts the formulation of correct theory and the abandonment of the current paradigm, which he compares to the Ptolemaic model of the universe prior to Copernican thinking.
My question then, is this: Assuming scientific brain theory must ultimately be continuous with philosophy of mind, is eliminativism of "mental" states and content sufficient and/or necessary in order to instate a paradigm that will create the basis for "reverse-engineering" the brain? If not, why not? If so, then what must be eliminated and how would you go about it? What, if anything, must replace the old concepts in order to (begin to) give a thorough account of human behavior and biology?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4199269/
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