The primary aim of CogInfoCom is to better understand how natural cognitive processes can effectively coevolve with processes in artificially cognitive systems. In this paper, the background of a new research direction within CogInfoCom - known as “mathability” - is discussed from a research historical perspective. Our goal is to illuminate the key motivations behind mathability from several perspectives, and to clarify more precisely why this direction can be seen as belonging to the research initiatives behind CogInfoCom.