ON a day called ‘January 1’, the world unites in an illusion. There is a ‘new year’. It is as though the year—considered to represent time and given numbers, 2022 for instance—is a stage defined by poles and a curtain. The stage changes periodically, and on it our lives are performed.

Whenever the curtain is reopened every 12 months, the adjective ‘new’ is shouted with glee. And as though in consen