As An American I Love Metric System

Welcome to engineering school, where you discover that measuring things in feet, inches, and "freedom units" is about as practical as doing calculus with Roman numerals. Every American engineering student has this exact moment of clarity when they realize the rest of the world has been laughing at us for using a measurement system based on some medieval king's body parts.

The metric system is literally designed around powers of 10—everything converts beautifully. Meanwhile, we're over here trying to remember how many teaspoons are in a gallon (it's 768, you're welcome) and wondering why our Mars Climate Orbiter crashed because someone mixed up pounds and newtons. The imperial system is basically a hazing ritual that America refuses to graduate from.

Fun fact: The U.S. actually legally adopted the metric system in 1866, but we're just too stubborn to use it. Engineers and scientists have been quietly using metric for decades while the rest of the country measures highway distances in "Big Macs per bald eagle."