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A new book from Stuart Kaplan and Marcus Riley reframes aging as a variable, not a one-way decline, introducing a so-called “flicker stage” in which people can temporarily regain strength, energy or mental sharpness. The idea matters now as populations live longer and many adults want strategies to stay active, work longer or recover more fully after setbacks.
Kaplan and Riley argue that how old someone feels—their lived or “feels-like age”—can diverge sharply from the number on their birth certificate. Rather than moving steadily from youthful to frail, people may oscillate between stages of greater and lesser vitality depending on health events, habits and mindset.
What the flicker stage means
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The authors frame the flicker stage as a temporary return to an earlier functional state: after illness, stress or a life change pushes someone into a later stage, targeted actions can produce a rebound to more youthful functioning. These recovery-like episodes are not miracles, the authors say, but predictable responses to changes in behavior and environment.
Riley emphasizes that these shifts are not permanent sentences: setbacks can slow you down, but they don’t have to define your trajectory if you apply deliberate measures to respond and rebuild.
Practical implications for day-to-day life
Viewing aging as flexible alters everyday choices. Instead of treating milestones like age 65 as an inevitable decline point—a social convention rooted in early 20th-century policy—Kaplan notes that people can plan careers, hobbies and care around functional capacity rather than arbitrary dates.
This perspective has direct consequences for employers, clinicians and individuals planning finances or long-term care: focusing on functional age could reshape return-to-work programs, rehabilitation and prevention efforts.
- Identify “flicker triggers”: activities or supports that reliably help you regain energy—examples include regular exercise, renewed social ties or improved sleep.
- Use positive interventions: short-term, targeted actions after a setback (physical therapy, structured social engagement, goal-oriented routines) that can help move someone back toward earlier functioning.
- Measure lived age, not just chronological age: track how you feel and perform in daily life to guide decisions about work, activity and care.
- Shift mindset: treat aging as a stage-based process with opportunities for renewal rather than an irreversible decline.
Why this view matters now
Longer life expectancy and changing retirement patterns make functional capacity more relevant than ever. People who remain physically and socially active are more likely to have those “flickers” of regained ability; conversely, isolation or chronic stress can push someone into a later stage prematurely.
For policymakers and health systems, the concept suggests investment in short-term, high-impact interventions can yield outsized benefits by returning people to higher-functioning stages—reducing care needs and improving quality of life.
Kaplan and Riley caution that this is not about denying limits but about expanding the range of what’s possible. As Riley puts it, aging need not be treated solely as a problem to fix; with the right supports and choices it can be an opportunity to reshape how we live in later decades.
