Why do most cultures count in base 10?

The answer

The prevalence of base-10 (decimal) counting systems across human cultures is directly linked to having ten fingers, making them natural counting tools. However, not all cultures adopted base 10. The Maya and Aztecs used base 20 (vigesimal), likely counting both fingers and toes. The Babylonians used base 60 (sexagesimal), which survives in our 60-second minutes and 360-degree circles. Some Papua New Guinean languages use base 27 body-part counting systems. The Oksapmin people count using 27 body parts from thumb to nose. Binary (base 2) is used by certain African and Australian Aboriginal groups. These diverse systems demonstrate that mathematics, though universal in capability, is culturally constructed in expression.