[jhbadger]

I'd argue that 1-based indexing is the "natural interpretation". Mathematics is inherently 1-based, and it isn't surprising that languages designed to do mathematics like R, Matlab, Mathematica, Julia all do 1-based arrays because that makes modeling paper mathematics in programs easier.

[umanwizard]

Sequences in math start with 1 by convention, not for any fundamental logical reason. It’s a reach to say that math is “inherently 1-based”.

[lproven]

I don't think it is.

Mathematics as a discipline predates the invention of the digit zero. The concept sure, but the notation and building positional representations around it is around 2000 years old.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/0#History