In Africa, people are sadder about the death of an old man than about that of a new-born baby. The old man represented a wealth of experience that might have benefited the tribe whereas the new-born baby had not lived and could not even be aware of dying. In Europe, people are sad about the new-born baby because they think he might well have done wonderful things if he had lived. On the other hand, they pay little attention to the death of the old man, who had already lived his life anyway.