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by tromp 1400 days ago
> when we count, we start at 1

If I ask you to count the number of red balls in a bag with only 3 yellow balls, then the initial count in your head is 0, you inspect the balls one by one, never encountering a red ball, and thus never incrementing the count. And then you pronounce your final count of 0. So that's counting starting from 0.

What you call "starting at 1" is not so much the start as it is the first increment, which need not arise.