Here's an idea. Feel free to comment if you have ideas to improve the list of answers.

You'd probably have to choose from the later options, I give here more ideas then approperiate for a poll.

When I count, I think of numbers as...

• spoken words
• other sound
• positions
• shapes
• colours
• other images
• feelings
• the basic building blocks of thought
• scalars
• beans
• fingers and toes
• someone else's fingers and toes

Updates: added scalars

Update 2008 sep 6: done: When I count, I think of numbers as....