Clocks and calendars provide a scale against which temporal change can be plotted. However, Jan Baars (2007) warns that ‘a large part of the gerontology community’ is still under the ‘spell’ of predictions based upon chronological age (p 2). His concern is that gerontology should focus on the causes of ageing rather than the correlates of chronological age:

In his paper proposing a ‘triple temporality’ of ageing he begins by noting how:

He goes on to argue that:

Nevertheless, he acknowledges the power of age norms and age regulations, and so his triple temporality brackets chronological age with personal experience and narrative articulation. He develops the case for a subjective time perspective:

Baar's third temporality, narrative articulation, is based upon Ricoeur's emplotment and the reconstruction of personal experiences as stories to be shared. Contrasting the grand narrative of the anti-ageing industry with that of care providers, he suggests that in both contexts narratives are not intended to be listened to; rather they are there to keep older people ‘buying and busy’ (p 36). Advocates of anti-ageing treatments would have you believe that by buying their products, you can ‘turn back the clock’, and the providers of care services aim to ‘keep you independent for as long as possible’.