Why are old people so wise? It has to do with memory slowdown. You may have noticed that old people tend to pause in speaking, throw back their heads and stare up. They experience what is sometimes called a "senior moment". It simply means they can't recall a name, usually a noun of that sort. Normally, they haven't recalled that name recently but it is a name that they used to know well. They realize they used to know it. Old people who just started being old may show strong irritation at the beginning of a recall delay but over time, they become used to the problem.
An interesting aspect of senior moments is that the senior knows he used to know the name he is trying to think over. I am not clear how it can be that he can't recall it but he still knows he used to know it. I find Google a big help. Describing the facts I do know: he was an author, he wrote funny novels, he wrote for the New Yorker as well. This time, looking up what I thought was indeed the name of one of his books worked: Peter DeVries!
See, older people spend lots of time reviewing what they were doing, why and where to track down a missing name or goal. That tracking gets them in the habit of reflecting: what am I doing? Why am I doing that? In short order, I start reflecting on the meaning of life.
