A man’s birth year plus his age always gives the current year; so does the sum of his hiring year and his time on the job. So here the “magic” total, 3888, is just twice 1944.

This works for any group of people — as long as they’re all still alive and working, these values will add to a miraculous constant. Here’s the current Supreme Court:

Their magic total, sure enough, is just twice 2009.