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RE: The Curious Case For Base 12 (Why Dozens Are Easier For Everyday Maths Than Tens)
I mean, you could count from 1-16 on one hand by using your thumb to point to your fingertips and knuckles. So why not just use hexadecimal, instead?
Counting to 12 on your fingers is not an advantage of base 12, it just shows that it's not in disadvantage compared to base 10. Base 12 is considered superior to base 16 because it has more prime factors. In base 12 half, third and quarter are quite simple, while in hexadecimal 1/3 is still going to have an infinitely recurring part. That's why duodecimal could be better for everyday calculations. That's the selling point that makes it better than both decimal and hexadecimal, not giving you the ability to count on your fingers.
There are all kinds of cultures that count not only on their fingers, but on their entire bodies and they can reach all kinds of really big numbers in all kinds of ways.