If I run 3.2 miles, how many feet is that? Did you get 16,896?

That was probably hard. How convenient would it be to have a system where you could easily convert between units? One universal system with endless applications? Spoiler alert, it already exists: the metric system.

How long is a mile anyway? 5280 feet, which I only remembered after looking it up. 12 inches per foot, 43,560 square feet per acre, three teaspoons per tablespoon, 16 cups per gallon–everyday conversions use random numbers. I can remember more consecutive digits of pi than imperial conversion factors.

In contrast, the metric system has standardized base-ten conversions with universal corresponding prefixes.

The metric system is already widely used across the globe. “By the mid-1970s, most countries had converted to the metric system or had plans to do so,” Parker Steel Company said. “[T]he United States is the only major country that has not adopted the metric system!”

Converting between measurements was always bound to fail spectacularly at least once. September 1999, “NASA lost its $125-million Mars Climate Orbiter because spacecraft engineers failed to convert from English to metric measurements,” the Los Angeles Times reported. That puts the fail rate at one per 50 years, meaning a similar mishap is likely to occur by 2050. As long as the imperial system is still in use, conversions will have to be made. The only 100% effective preventative measure is to convert (pun intended) to the metric system.

The only benefit of the imperial system is temperature: it’s much easier to imagine degrees Fahrenheit than degrees Celsius. However, Celsius and Kelvin (degrees Celsius + 273) are the measurements of science. Isn’t it more important to promote overall scientific progress and ease of use than to improve one category? Temperature scales aren’t important, improving the quality of life for millions is.