All knowledge is perspectival and hence is metaphoric.
To approach such questions we need to think in terms of different kinds of time. We run little risk in claiming that the entire gerontological profession pivots around the experiences and consequences of time. There are various temporal orders implicit within our biological development, our psychological maturation, the sequence and combination of social roles that we play, and in the pace and direction of social change. Such thinking in time has significant methodological implications when studying human aging. Consider, for instance, the proposition that individuals' political views become increasingly conservative with age.