According to the wiki entry:
It seems like it might be even easier to count to 12 with two hands that have six fingers instead of five. The reason this seems interesting to me is that the reports of six-fingered peoples seem to indicate them as being a prior or more ancient race of hominids, which would place them closer to the origin of modern human society (i.e. Sumer and so on).
By extension, having a biology which derives a mathematical system from 12 may indicate a fundamentally different way of perceiving at the most basic level. It would be the same as how modern human mathematics based on the Decimal system of 10 has come to be the most pervasive system. It affects all kinds of things at the root level, because its just a very basic understanding of math in general that is built into the human body.
Quote
Using the thumb, and pointing to each of the three finger bones on each finger in turn, it is possible for people to count on their fingers to 12 on a single hand. A traditional counting system still in use in many regions of Asia works in this way, and could help to explain the occurrence of numeral systems based on 12 and 60 besides those based on 10, 20 and 5.
It seems like it might be even easier to count to 12 with two hands that have six fingers instead of five. The reason this seems interesting to me is that the reports of six-fingered peoples seem to indicate them as being a prior or more ancient race of hominids, which would place them closer to the origin of modern human society (i.e. Sumer and so on).
By extension, having a biology which derives a mathematical system from 12 may indicate a fundamentally different way of perceiving at the most basic level. It would be the same as how modern human mathematics based on the Decimal system of 10 has come to be the most pervasive system. It affects all kinds of things at the root level, because its just a very basic understanding of math in general that is built into the human body.