Because if you had a deep appreciation for mathematical structures you wouldn't be surprised by this development.
> And if a high schooler could figure this out, then Leibnitz own discussion or contribution to this topic is then meaningless?
Mostly, yes. Binary is useful for computers, but it's not like we use binary algebra in our daily lives. FWIW, Leibnitz did a much better job at calculus than Newton ... mathematical construct that has been "discovered" at least 3 times.
> The main point is that the finding in the article has cultural significance, rather than purely in terms of mathematics. I think you either don't understand that or are not willing to see that.
The OP was complaining about Nature screwing up the understanding of the mathematics and chiding the social scientists for ignorant remarks about the mathematics involved. I am also tired of seeing silly pop-science articles being posted HN.
> Could there an underlying commonality in the way humans learn and organize knowledge?
Yes, it does and this finding does not contribute to what we already know about mathematics and its relation to cognition [0]. I'm frankly a bit embarrassed by my social science colleagues and Nature for not doing a better job framing their findings more appropriately.
Sorry for being curt.
0:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Where_Mathematics_Comes_From