|
Here is an example of altruism:
A soldier gets shot and is badly injured. His fellow troops are carrying him back and they see a greande/land mine/ whatever it was on the ground. The solider who may or may not make it at this point its unclear lies down on top of it so that his fellow soldiers won't be slowed down or hurt from the shrapnel. He died when it went it off so that people could live. That is altruism. Altrusim is rarer in humans because we have so few viable and effective natural enemies. In other animals it exists more abudantly because altrusitic behaivor is attractive for potentional mates, therefore the animals with the genes for altruism pass it on to there offspring more often than those with out. It also doesn't have to be that dramatic. Here is another, more realistic example of altruism.
You are in highschool with group of your friends. One goes up to some one and asks him to buy the beer. He took a risk for the group, that is altruism. The guys that carried the beer in their cars to beach week were altruistic. If they were stopped they were screwed.
|