Biogerontology (2017) 18:285–292

DOI 10.1007/s10522-016-9664-6

OPINION ARTICLE

Human aging, finite lives and the idealization of clocks

Jan Baars

Received: 7 September 2016 / Accepted: 13 October 2016 / Published online: 22 October 2016
Ó Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016

Abstract Aging and time are interconnected Keywords Time
Finitude
Philosophy of aging

because aging is basically living seen in a temporal Vulnerability
perspective. This makes ‘time’ an important concept
in trying to explain aging. However, throughout
modernity time has increasingly been identified as
clock time: perfectly fit to measure ‘age’ as time since Usually, the connection between ‘aging’ and ‘time’ is
birth but failing to explain ‘age’ as an indicator of sought—or supposed to be found—in the concept of
aging processes and even less adequate to grasp the ‘age’. Although ‘age’ (as time since birth) may be used
lived time of human beings. Moreover, the clock as a to regulate life course transitions such as retirement,
cultural idol of instrumentalist perfection has led to age can hardly be seen as a reliable indicator of aging
approaching human aging in terms of maintenance and processes. The major differences in life expectancies
repair, inspiring a neglect and depreciation of human between historical and contemporary populations and
vulnerability. The instrumentalist culture of late the continuing differences between and within birth
modern society, including its health cure system, has cohorts demonstrate that human aging does not
difficulties to relate to the elusive but inevitable lim- develop in synchrony with clock time (Baars and
itations of finite life. This tendency is supported by Visser 2007; Baars 2012).
outspoken approaches in biogerontology indulging in While the articulation of ‘time’ has probably begun
perspectives of infinite human lives; a message that is with the experience of change, the development of
eagerly consumed by the mass media. Moreover, as clock time has focused on regular, repetitive changes
most people can be expected to survive into old age, in the surrounding world that are not the result of
thinking about finitude is easily postponed and human actions but stem from forces beyond human
reserved for those who are ‘really old’. Instead of control. The solar system can easily convince as a
reducing aging to the opposite or mere continuation of clock that functions independently, undisturbed by
vital adulthood, it should be seen as something with a external interference, so that the measurements of time
potentially broad and deep significance: a process of that are based on it can be accepted as fully objective.
learning to live a finite life. Meanwhile highly stable and precise atomic clocks
have their own foundation and are even able to
measure the irregular movements of the solar system.
J. Baars (&) By means of such elementary distinctions such as
University of Humanistic Studies, Utrecht,
The Netherlands ‘later than’, ‘earlier than’ or ‘simultaneous with’ clock
e-mail: info@janbaars.nl time enables us to order all events in one organized

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whole. In a developed form this provides a complete sealed off from the environment (cf. Yates 2007;
continuous and linear ordering that can be represented Uffink 2007). Although Yates (2007) has attempted to
either numerically or as a straight line. The ordering is apply the model of a biological clock to the human life
continuous in the sense that for any two distant instants span, so far biological clocks have only been clearly
t1 and t2 there exists a third instant lying between identified for circadian rhythms.
them; a structure that allows for ever more precise
measurements.
The importance of the development of clock time
Aging, clock time and lived time
can hardly be overestimated and its implications are
profound in many ways. It may be clarifying, however,
The general term ‘aging’ refers to three different
to remember its foundations: the temporal regularity in
temporal processes, of which the first two correspond
the solar system is dictated by the gravitational
with approaches to aging and time from physics and
movements of enormous bodies of dead weight; with,
biology:
in the case of the earth, life on it. And insofar as these
movements are not regular enough for present stan- (a) ‘Aging’ as reaching a higher chronometric age.
dards they are corrected by the rhythms of other dead Although ‘age’ as time since birth can be
materials: extremely frequent and stable atomic oscil- measured precisely it is only connected to aging
lations. Nevertheless, even the most advanced clock is in the forms of average scores that usually hide
nothing more than an instrument that produces and important internal differences. In spite of this
measures clock time or (chrono)metric time. Evolu- poor performance ‘age’ plays a major role in the
tionary processes or human lives can be dated and organization of the life course in contemporary
measured but do not follow clock time; on the Western societies where ‘older workers’ have
contrary, time measurements only mark events or difficulties to find a job when they are older than
transitions that may have their own temporal forty five years and where ‘50?’ has become a
dynamics. marker of those who have entered ‘old age’. The
This lack of synchrony between physical and awkward role of ‘age’ as an indicator of aging
biological time has inspired a search for clocks that leads to a life course organization in which three
would be intrinsic to human aging (Schroots and decades of ‘normal adulthood’ are followed by
Birren 1988; Hershey and Wang 1980; Richardson and an ‘old age’ that may last twice as long (Baars
Rosen 1979; Yates 2007). This would have to go 2009, 2010). A poor indicator is turned into a
beyond biomarkers such as the aspartate racemization decisive factor by life course policies.
in the teeth, which is used in forensics (Yekkala et al. (b) ‘Aging’ as representing the complex processes
2006) to assess the age (as time since birth) of a body. through which degeneration outweighs the
Such biomarkers do not represent ‘age’ as the regeneration of biological or, in a broader sense,
functional state of the whole organism that would functional conditions. Sometimes the term
enable us to understand why this person of 60 years ‘senescence’ is used but biologists often use
old dies within a year while that person with an age of the term ‘aging’, as in ‘aging cells’ or ‘aging
82 years lives for another twenty years. tissues’ in the sense of functional decline. This
Different theories have been drawn upon to understanding of aging has emancipated itself
conceptualize intrinsic clocks of aging, usually, how- in principle from the use of chronometric ‘age’
ever, the Second Law of Thermodynamics has been as an indicator of aging: when there is no
used to develop an intrinsic age in terms of the entropy functional decline there is no aging (Gavrilov
production of a given system over time. A major and Gavrilova 2006). Maybe it would be better
problem with this approach appears to be that there if biologists would use a more specific term to
might be several systems within the human organism distinguish it from the confusing age/aging
and that open systems such as human organisms, that complex; preferably a dynamic term such as
rely on interaction and exchange with pluriform senescing, avoiding the static term ‘senescence’
contexts, do not fit well in the models of intrinsic that suggests a static—but very long and
clocks that presuppose that the system in question is changing—‘old age’.

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(c) ‘Aging’ as an agentic process of human beings since Eddington’s The Arrow of Time (1928/
in which historical contexts, societal structures, 2014), lived time is irreversible: for human beings
cultural contexts, shared lifestyles and individ- there is an important difference between whether
ual attitudes or choices play an important role as something has not yet or whether it has already
has been broadly documented in empirical taken place.
research of the last decades (Baars 2012). On 5. Finally, whereas clock time can freely switch
the one hand, humans have characteristics such from attoseconds to billions of years in the same
as gender, weight, skin color, health, (dis)abil- continuum, humans have to face living in a finite
ities or age and their lives take place against time.
different backgrounds: family, culture, educa-
tion, socio-economic circumstances or access to
health care. Such characteristics and their
impact are described, classified and analyzed A smoothly ticking clock as a cultural idol
in empirical research on aging. On the other of progress
hand these characteristics are generalizing
indicators of situations that are lived. They refer Because of its scientific precision metric time has
to ways of being and relating to characteristics earned so much prestige that its exact measurements
and situations: what it means for them to be have become a favorite vehicle for all kinds of
black, a woman, healthy or ill, disabled, poor, interpretations of aging that often remain implicit
seventy years old, etcetera. This distinction and hidden behind impressive statistics (Baars
implies that persons have their own meaningful 2009, 2010). Besides this cultural prestige of time
experiences that count besides objectifying measurement which leads to amassing unexplained
assessments; as such it is one of the markers data about aging the image of a clock that ticks
of a humane world and a major focus for critical smoothly and endlessly through time has become a
approaches to aging. Aging cannot only be cultural idol: an idealized example of the way in which
measured in clock time or functionally societies, organizations and human beings should
assessed: life’s changes and their temporal function. Measurements of the durations of processes
interpretations are also lived and this inside and human actions are eagerly translated into blue-
dimension is not less important for human prints to make them more time efficient, leading to an
aging. increase in productivity or marketed experiences as
more can be done in less time. The resulting pressure
Therefore, I propose the following distinctions
for acceleration is a mixed blessing because not all
between clock time and lived time (cf. Hoy 2012):
domains of human life benefit in the same way and
1. Clock time is embedded in scientific paradigms— some will suffer. Accelerating the transport of mate-
lived time in ways of living. rials, persons, money and texts or the production of
2. Due to its definition as a clock, clock time has one goods is not the same as accelerating home care, a
rhythm—lived time has different rhythms. physician’s consult or a personal conversation. More-
3. According to clock time, time is an infinite series over, slowing down, ‘taking your time’ or any
of point-like instants, which can be counted and interference that used to be taken for granted tend to
dated. However, establishing whether something become intolerable because the process was budgeted
happened earlier, later or simultaneously is not the on the basis of an optimal time-efficient schedule.
same as interpreting it as past, present or future Actions, processes and structures are transformed into
(McTaggart 1908; Ricoeur 1988). Moreover, smoothly ticking clocklike instruments that can run
major changes or transitions such as retiring, endlessly without losing any precision, always ready
becoming a grandparent or losing a partner to detect spaces where time has been wasted. The
transform not only the present but also the effects of long term overburdening under the idol of
anticipated future and the relevance of the past. acceleration are readily explained in terms of a higher
4. In contrast to the time–indifference or even the age and used against the victim instead of questioning
reversibility of time in laws of physics, debated the idols of temporal efficiency.

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In scientific and public discourse about human more of a concern when hundreds of years of possible
aging this cultural idol returns in the identification of life might be lost in one fatal moment.
cognitive aging with diminishing processing speed
(Salthouse 2000 or in programs to delay the aging
process as a whole. Through maintenance and repair Clocklike normality and the neglect of aging1
the organism would, in more extreme views (De Grey
and Rae 2008) even stop aging: human life would be For many people in the well off regions of the world
transformed into a perfect clock that would just life has already become much longer: biodemographic
measure its own age of one thousand or ten thousand research informs us that life expectancies in affluent
years and tick on forever without any functional societies have almost doubled over the last 150 years
‘aging’. (Oeppen and Vaupel 2002). After the initial decline in
To approach and unify human aging as a clock has infant mortality there has even been a further boost:
many important implications such as a neglect of finite most of the additional years added to life since the last
life. However, acknowledging finitude does not mean decades of the 20th century were realized at older ages
that we should just prepare for death and neglect life: (Vaupel 2010).
we invest with good reasons much time and resources Although aging and ‘old age’ have in a relatively
so that people may flourish through care, education, short time become—even in quantitative terms—such
good work and fulfilling experiences. Moreover, an important part of the late modern life course, these
countless people who work in medical professions or remarkable developments have not led to much
are active in informal care do their best to help people appreciation or genuine interest in what these new
to survive serious crises so that they can enjoy their horizons of aging might add to our lives. In late
lives again. Maintenance and repair of the functional modern societies aging is challenged by major para-
aspects of the human body, also at the fundamental doxes that drain its meaning as a dignified phase or
level of cell reproduction or DNA have an important process of life.
role to play because a good life should not necessarily In spite of rising life expectancies people are called
include suffering from cancer or other terrible ‘old(er)’ at an earlier age. While the pension systems
diseases. that mainly originated in the first half of the 20th century
This does not imply, however, that death has no defined the beginning of ‘old age’ around the age of
meaning for life as the American Academy for Anti sixty-five years, over the last decades organizations
Aging Medicine (2002, p. 6) proclaims in its criticism such as the AARP (formerly, the American Association
of the ‘death cult of gerontology’ which ‘desperately of Retired Persons) and its European counterparts have
labors to sustain an arcane, outmoded stance that aging declared its onset at the age of fifty years (www.aarp.
is natural and inevitable’. On the contrary, the org/promotions/sem/member01.html). The labor mar-
awareness of the inevitable possibility of death at kets of the US and the EU have even created the cate-
any moment motivates being cautious, taking care of gory of ‘older workers’ for those who are older than
others, prevent or cure disease, inspires even research forty years (Henretta 2001; Guillemard and Argoud
programs to prolong healthy lives but confronts us, 2004). ‘Normal’, seemingly ageless adulthood is
above all, with questions about the quality and increasingly invaded by a culture of acceleration and
meanings of our lives. Accepting a finite life does perfection with little tolerance for the imperfections and
not imply that we want to suffer or to die but that we vulnerabilities of finite life (Baars 2012; Virilio 2012).
have to die. This message goes against the preferences These developments are accompanied on the one
of those who are used to be able to buy whatever they hand, by a ‘decline ideology’ (Gullette 1997) reducing
want. Therefore, the scientific claim that it will soon aging to an irreversible decline that appears to be more
be possible to live for a thousand years if we only adequate for the terminal stages of life than for the
would invest in a ‘war on aging’ will find eager extended process of late modern aging. The programs
interest. However, even when the average human life
span would have risen to a thousand years, life would
still be finite and death would still be present on the 1
The next pages of this article have partly been taken
horizon of life. Maybe, death would even become from Baars (2016b).

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that have on the other hand, challenged the decline problem solving pit-stop service that will enable the
ideology emphasize values and attitudes that are patient to return to his or her activities as quickly as
assumed to be typical of ‘normal’ adulthood such as possible (Baars 2006). Even if returning to an active
‘productivity’, activity’ and ‘success’ (The Gerontol- life has become elusive the cure system appears unable
ogist 2015). These programs, however, tend to defy to offer anything beyond the instrumentalist agenda of
aging and to marginalize those older people who other possible treatments. Although effective medical
cannot live up to these standards; for them the ‘decline treatment necessarily involves instrumental
ideology’ would still appear to hold. There is a approaches there is, at least, a serious unbalance
worrying lack of perspectives that embrace and between instrumental tasks and the need for sensitive,
explore aging’s potential for meaning beyond decline attentive care as a supportive context for any instru-
narratives and age-defying narratives (Laceulle and mental cure but especially for those who cannot be
Baars 2014). expected to be cured anymore.
As the postponement of mortality has been an One could criticize Gawande for his neglect of a
important factor in the rise of life expectancies this social context which leads to other major problems
has, given a finite life span, led to a concentration of such as unequal access to medical treatment but this
death among the oldest of the population. Whereas neglect gives even sharper contours to the crucial
historical research, for instance on parish registers, limitations of a highly sophisticated technological
funeral orations, and official statistics in Europe from apparatus that is in full force. A sophistication that
the sixteenth into the twentieth century has shown that begins, however, to show some serious flaws when
death used to be much closer to people of all ages, somebody from the inside looks at it from the outside
finitude in the sense of mortality has increasingly been and sees ‘a hospital built to ensure survival at all costs
driven out of ‘normal’ life (Imhof 1986). However, we and unclear how to do otherwise’ (Gawande 2014,
do not die because we have become old but because we p. 253).
have been born as finite human beings: death is given Unfortunately, these problems are not the fault of
with life. an isolated professional domain; the self-perpetuating
One of the basic problems appears to be the late instrumentalism of the health cure system is just one
modern inability to face and appreciate what it means example of the ways in which late modern expert
to live a finite life and to identify with those who systems target problems that have been defined in their
remind us of this condition. It has become hard to terms, with little time for anything else (Baars 2015).
identify with growing old and being old (Weiss and If, however, efforts to alleviate suffering remain
Lang 2012). Growing older appears to have no merely instrumental they may cause much unneces-
meaning of itself: it has become either a continuation sary suffering, because human beings are not clocks
or a depletion of youthful normal adulthood, ending that merely need maintenance or repair: they need to
with a medicalized death that is largely left to be recognized as human beings. We need approaches
professionals. that make it possible to appreciate technology,
Regrettably, professional culture has become a part professional cultures and organizational systems as
of the problem. The clocklike ways in which profes- means to ends; they are not meaningful in themselves
sional work has been organized in late modern but only insofar as they serve the needs of finite—
societies allow for little time to digress from the vulnerable, creative and unique—human beings.
targets and tasks that dominate the agendas. However,
this hectic instrumentalism continues to conflict with
ideals and needs of both professionals and clients, Aging: learning to face finitude in life
especially when the goal of the system is to care for
vulnerable and finite human beings. A recent account There is a widely spread idea that ‘finitude’ or a ‘finite
of this painful conflict has been given by Atul life’ only means that we have to die: finitude would be
Gawande (2014). This interesting and moving narra- the same as mortality. However, one of the classical
tive confirms the diagnosis that the overwhelming interpretations of living a finite life is to ‘practice
majority of what we call the ‘health care system’ aims dying’. The source of this phrase is Plato’s work
at the delivery of technologically sophisticated cure: a Phaedo (2009: 67d) where he says that the true

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philosopher practices distancing the soul from the Aging: increasing vulnerability and biographical
body. I will refrain from commenting on the idea of complexity
disembodiment of the true philosopher and only notice
that practicing dying is different from death as the Approaching aging from the perspective of a finite life
opposite of life: it is a way of living. Its essence is to may not only help to accept later life with all its
integrate experiences of human finitude in life. This unknown possibilities, problems, and promises as an
does not mean that we would like to lose friends, important part of human life but also to acknowledge
partners or abilities but that such experiences are aging as a process of learning how to live a finite life
inevitable in life and that the awareness of such (Baars 2016b). Because finitude and vulnerability
possible loss may deepen the significance of what we belong to human life as such, we need to be cautious to
tend to take for granted. The awareness of finitude is determine what their specific meaning might be for
not meant to make death more threatening but to human aging. Often, generalizing images of ‘old
deepen the experience of life as we live it. people’ or ‘old age’ are used for rhetorical reasons: to
A finite life is foremost a life of ongoing change emphasize their being-a-burden or to highlight their
but not necessarily the repetitive kind that clock time abilities to triumph in activities that would even be
builds on. On the one hand aging consists of changes major challenges for young adults such as running
that happen to us: we can neither hold on to the marathons or climbing the highest mountains. Con-
present nor control the future. Situations and phases temporary gerontological research tells us that the
of life that were expected to continue, at least long ways in which aging processes develop defy easy
enough not to expect its soon ending, can suddenly generalizations and images of an integrated clock,
be over. Some of these changes have such a strong because they are constituted in extremely complex
positive or negative impact that life will, as we tend ways, involving environmental and genetic character-
to say, never be the same again. On the other hand, istics as well as individual agency and chance.
such changes require active responding that needs to However, we can distinguish two general pro-
be learned in real life: to learn to let go, take cesses—that may well be interconnected—character-
distance, re-appreciate situations and integrate expe- izing aging as a developing finite life: (a) increasing
riences into the awareness of a finite life appears to vulnerability and (b) increasing biographical
be central to aging as an evolving art of living (Baars complexity.
2012, 2016b). The ending, completion and closure of
(a) As we live longer the vulnerability of our lives
finite situations imply a re-beginning. Hannah Arendt
will increase although this cannot be pinned
has elaborated on the interconnection between lim-
down to chronometric age. This general process
itations and openings as she interprets being born as a
should not be reduced to functional decline:
limited but unique being as a promise of unforeseen
even anticipating, experiencing and integrating
possibilities. In her work, the finitude of the human
functional decline involve a broad spectrum of
condition is characterized not by death, but by
human life. Moreover, aging is not just the
‘natality’: we are not in the world to die but to be
experience of an individual but needs also to be
reborn. A crucial role is played by our innate
seen in relation to others. Even if one would live
creativity but also by the ‘power to forgive’ (Arendt
healthily into an extremely high age this may
1958, p. 236); for the exiled Jewish philosopher
not simply be a success story, as this will
Arendt who had witnessed the Holocaust not an easy
probably imply losing partners, friends with
task, but still an essential one. According to Arendt,
whom one has shared important experiences;
human beings are endowed with the capacity to
even losing children or grandchildren.
wonder, to begin, to start something new or to do the
(b) A longer life implies an increasing biographical
unexpected. In that sense each day is also a new day
complexity. We inevitably begin our lives in
that breaks out of reproductive cycles. Natality is not
specific circumstances: with this body, with
only something that happens at birth, but it qualifies
those parents, at that time and in that part of the
human lives from birth to death, inspiring finite life
world. Major formative circumstances such as
with hope, creativity, critique, rebirth, and the
persistent social inequalities or misfortune will
emergence of new horizons.

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have an important formative impact, while they Conclusions

are met by the formative activity of the person.
This interplay results in an increasingly unique Aging people have benefitted in many respects from
biographical complexity that does not, however, the development of science and technology and there
imply that these individual trajectories were is still much to be expected; we can hardly say that
freely chosen. aging has received much attention before the last few
decades. However, as part of a broader development
What are the implications of such increasing
clock time has overruled lived time: the clock has
biographical complexity? Foremost, it requires a
become a cultural idol with detrimental consequences
modesty regarding the many broad generalizations
for many domains of life, including human aging.
about ‘the elderly’ or ‘seniors’ that conflict with the
Under the dominance of the clock life accelerates to
unique complexities of their lives and their biograph-
the extent that each moment is overshadowed by the
ical identities. This basic characteristic of human
next thing on the agenda. ‘Normal adulthood’ is being
aging challenges generalizations that pin people
redefined as an ageless, clocklike functioning of the
down to something abstract as a number of years, a
human organism that could and should be extended
chronic disease or a disability. Counterevidence can
indefinitely through maintenance and repair. In care
often be found nearby: the more we become inter-
and cure situations this instrumentalism leads to a
ested in a person, the greater the complexity of his or
tendency to answer failing control with more of the
her identity appears to be, and the more hesitant we
same, as we have seen in Gawande’s outcry.
become to put a label on them. However, in the many
There is a need to learn to balance control with the
large-scale inventories of ‘the elderly’ and their
acceptance of its limits and the proposal of this article
characteristics their voices have become very thin
has been that this must come from learning to accept
while much is said about them and too little by them.
finitude in life and, eventually, the finitude of life.
However, older people are not only in an eminent
Finitude is a permanent condition of life and is deeply
position to understand more of the nuances and major
connected with the uniqueness of situations and
contradictions that have been typical of the times they are
human lives: life’s situations and phases change and
and have been living through but also to develop more
go by. In an accelerated life this is difficult to
insight in challenges that are typical of finite life. To
experience and as death in late modern societies tends
digest such increasing biographical complexity may lead
to occur at relatively high ages, finitude is expelled
to a deepening of experiences and understanding that has
from the full agendas of daily life. Negative general-
in many traditions been referred to as wisdom (Edmond-
izations about aging can easily become a way to
son 2015). People who have lived relatively long are in a
exorcise human vulnerability from the supposed
better position than younger adults to understand that
normality of young and adult life, to reserve it for
finite life implies going through and responding to
those who have reached a higher age. A superficial
foreseeable, but also uncontrollable and unforeseeable
association between aging and finitude in the limited
change. Although we are able to initiate change and to
sense of mortality tends to occlude the finitude that
influence some of the ways in which we change, living
pervades human life as we live it.
also implies going through changes that are beyond our
Eventually, however, it will be difficult to overlook
grasp. We cannot stop change from happening: it is given
the finitude of life as it will force itself into the full
with our existence and the real force behind our concepts
agendas. Therefore, older people will have more
of time and aging in a broad sense (Baars 2016a).
opportunities to gain a deeper understanding of human
Situations change and we change with them: growing up
life than younger adults. Unfortunately, the dominant
and growing older are unthinkable without continuous
cultures of late modern aging fail to appreciate aging
change and older people can more easily assess how
as an inspiring source of lived experience and wisdom.
profound these changes may be. The ways in which we
The idea that life becomes less meaningful and
confront change over the years will play an important
residual beyond hectic adulthood drains not only
formative role in aging: to be able to integrate change
aging of its meanings but is also a threat to the dignity
appears to be central to aging as an evolving art of living
of finite life. This superficial and harmful view of life
that might also be vitally important for younger people.
also affects those who are disabled, mentally

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