Passege was about the altrustic behavior of animal which is an unselfish act of

kindness. But the lecturer opposes the idea of altruism. She says that it may no
t always be the case of altruism.
In lecture, professor gave example of a study conducted on meerkats' behaviour.
The early belief about meekats is that one meerkats stands guard and gives alarm
cry when a predator comes as so showing an act of altruism. But the close study
of meerkats revealed that the the meerkat standing as guard eats before it guar
ds and as the guard meerkat is the first to see the predator coming it increases
the chance of guard meerkat's survival as it is gaurding near it'a burl. And ot
her meerkats would have to run togather in a crowd so it may get noticed by pred
ator moore quickly which decreases their chance of survival. But the passage sug
gested that the guarding meerkats was actually a altruistic behaviour which is c
ompletely opposed by the study.
Professor also gave example of a person donating his/her kidney. People usually
consider that it's an act of altruism but actually person donating his/her kidne
y or any organ to a family member or stranger may also seek increased sense of s
elf behavior or reward from society or any non-materialist acknowledgement. But
the passage suggested that it's a unselfish act which is not always the case acc
ording to professor.