Feeling old? In its annual “unwrapped” feature tracking user activity, Spotify has given me a listening age of 92. So I’m feeling ancient. (A spate of streaming the 1930s vocal quartet The Ink Spots may have something to do with it.)

Adding to a sense of fogeyishness is a new study identifying four pivotal “turning points” in human brain development. These come at about the ages of nine, 32, 66 and 83. I’m well past the second turning point in an adult category that “aligns with a plateau in intelligence and personality”, according to Cambridge University researchers.

A plateau in intelligence. Sounds about right. My success rate on Wordle is getting no better.

From 66, the early ageing phase kicks in, with a decline in brain connectivity and increased reliance on certain regions for brain function. This accelerates in the late ageing phase from 83.

These turning points are not necessarily bad. You may be less likely to revolutionise a field of scientific inquiry during the latter phases. But you could develop a sort of wisdom that escaped you in your youth.

So much for science. What does philosophy have to say about ageing? How do you deal with the existential dread that your best years are behind you?

Philosophers since Ancient Greece have grappled with this issue. They point out that human life is........

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