I can see how in a higher-level language it might make sense to use 1-based indices. this is, after all, how humans typically count. I just don't agree with it

I can see how in a higher-level language it might make sense to use 1-based indices. this is, after all, how humans typically count. I just don't agree with it as a general statement over all programming languages. in low-level contexts where you are working directly with memory, it is quite natural for indices (or idx * element_size) to be equivalent to offsets.