Altruism (integrated)

The reading and the lecture are both about altruism, so it is a kind of behavior.
The meerkat is mentioned in both lecture and reading passage. The lecturer’s
opinion is that the meerkats are not altruistic, but author feels contrary.

Firstly, the author argues that every group of meerkats has a sentinel, so it looks
for predators, at that time other members eat foods comfortably, however,
sentinel stands guard without food. This specific argument is challenged by the
lecturer. So she rebuts this by mentioning that the typically meerkats eat before
they stand guard, and they are not hungry during guard time.

Secondly, the writer suggests that if the sentinel meerkat sees predators, it gives
alarm to others at the expense of putting himself in danger. In contrast, the
lecturer position is completely opposite. He notes that sentinels escape more
quickly than other meerkats.