The way cultures count on their fingers can provide insight into the values and practices of a particular society. Dactylonomy, or finger counting, is not just a practical skill, but also reflects cultural norms around numeracy and communication. For example, some cultures use only one hand to count, while others use both. This could be linked to how important individualism versus collectivism is in that culture.

In China, people traditionally use one hand to count up to 10, with each finger representing a number from 1 to 10.

In many Arabic-speaking countries, people count up to 19 using only one hand, with each finger representing a number from 1 to 5 and combinations of fingers representing higher numbers.

In Japan, people use a combination of hand gestures and spoken numbers to count, with each finger representing a number from 1 to 10.

Some Native American cultures use a base-8 counting system, with each hand representing a set of numbers from 1 to 8 and the fingers representing individual numbers within that set.

In parts of West Africa, people use a base-12 counting system, with each hand representing a set of numbers from 1 to 6 and the fingers representing individual numbers within that set.