Ah, table manners: That intersection of practicality and arbitrary rules that has an uncanny ability to bring out the irrationality in nearly everyone.
Cutlery is great, if it's up to the job and you can use it in the culturally appropriate manner. This may include random acts of violence required to indoctrinate your offspring into the culture.
Sufficiently clean fingers work just fine, but tend to result in greasy/sticky fingers. Not recommended if you're trying to read, or operate a fondleslab, while eating.
Tables are indeed excellent for resting elbows on. Why else would they be molished at elbow height?