0-F on each hand using the tip of the thumb on the joints and tips of the fingers, giving a total range of 0-FF. It's a pain to decode to decimal so just use hex.
this post was submitted on 12 Nov 2025
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I count in binary so that way I can count to 1023 on just my hands.
Nice! I do, as well.
Plus it I'm angry someone, I can flip them the number four.
1024 using binary.
- Otherwise you'd have to stick out your tongue or something for the 1024ths place bit.
0 to 1023, is 1024.
0 to 1023 is 1024 possible values, but the highest value you can display is still 1023.
When you count on your fingers in base 10, do you tell people you can "actually" count to 11? Of course not. Only if you, in fact, killed Inigo Montoya's father.
You simply add one to each count. No fingers up equalt 1 (0+1). Only left pinky up equals 2 (1+2). Only left ring finger up is 3 (2+1). Left pinky and ring finger up equals 4 (3+1). Continue up to all fingers up equals 1024 (1023+1),
I can count to 11 on my fingers
132
Bruh usually I just use 0-9 then use the "RAM" in my brain to store the tens-place digit lol
I do this but also store the tens in my toes.
I used ternary for a few days (which let's you count to 59048 on two hands, 242 on one), but then realized I never needed to count that high, so reverted to binary (now, I can count to 1023 on two hands, 31 on one hand).
I've been trying that Babylonian thing where you can count to twelve with each hand (so with both hand you can count up to 156), it's easy to count but it's quite hard to look at the fingers and figure out the number.
I do that (but only for one hand), and I've also associated months with each segment.
I had to think how you got to 156 instead of 12² but not for too long.
I don't count on my fingers but I will use my fingers when doing something like figuring out what the seventh letter in the alphabet is.
If I need to count higher than 25ish I need to use something better than my hands. I know I can use binary but it's too much effort. I just count sets of five on one hand and the partial sets on the other.
I don't think I've done that past elementary school. And how high I could count is pretty much limited by my remaining lifespan.
Does American Sign Language count? I think 1000 is the first number that uses both hands. I haven't used it in a really long time, so I could be completely wrong.
I'm not dexterous enough to do the 1024 thing. Usually I just point my index finger at the appropriate point on a meter stick. With cm precision, that's 100 and if I do the same with my other hand, I can count 10000
Then there's japan where the kids get so good with an abacus they can go through the manipulation of an invisible abacus with one hand while keeping a mental picture of the abacus
This is what I use, I thought it was much older. Huh.
"It doesn't teach the basic number facts, only to count faster," says someone as quoted prominently on wikipedia.
I suppose it can be fast, but the main use I've got out of it over the years is to count automatically using only my fingers while my brain is busy doing other things.
There is a good robWords video about numbers and counting with fingers in different countries.
That said, I start with my left thumb which is my dominant hand. I'm left-handed
I started counting finger joints thanks to Rob. Not that it's changed my life or anything lol.
I can count to 26 on both hands. Each finger bone and both my thumbs.
I follow asl style for the right hand:
1- pointer; 2- pointer and middle; 3- pointer, middle, and thumb; 4- everything but thumb; all five up; 6- thumb touching pinky; 7- thumb touching ring; 8- thumb touching middle; 9- thumb touching pointer; 10- fist
Then I use the left hand for 10s. So i can get up to 100
I count the same way you do.
I can count to about 32 and I get real bored real fast