That would work in any base, I even think we would find way more interesting coincidences in base 12 (as Sumerians preferred), because it's divisible by 2,3,4,6.
I have always counted to 20 on one hand. even as a kid. base, lower joint, upper joint, top. times 5 - including the thumb: my motor memory is trained so that i switch seamlessly from keeping the curse on top of the finger using my thumb, and then, once i cross 16, switch to using the index finger to "cursor" the thumb.
Same here. I have always counted 20 on one hand, so 40 with both. That's how my parents taught me to count when I was little. I used this method so often as a kid that, even though I don't count like this anymore, every number up to 40 still has its own place on my fingers.
It was only as an adult that I realised nobody around me counted this way. You are the first person I have found who talked about this method, so I am glad to find this comment of yours.
I am French and we cont extending our fingers from a closed fist. Typically to 2x5=10.
When I was a kid I relized that I can count the fives on the right hand (1 finger for each 5 on the left), which brought me to 25.
It is only when I was traveling in Asia and watched people on markets that I realized that I can use my thumb to count my 12 other finger phalanges, which brought the total to 144. You just need to know your multiplication table of 12 :)
