The reading and the lecture are both about altruism, a type of behavior. The author of the reading feels that altruism, which is a selfless act, can be found in both human and other mammals. The article uses the example of Meerkat, which is a mammal, to prove the altruistic behavior. The lecturer challenges the claims made by the author. She is of the opinion that the behavior exhibited by human and mammals is not entirely altruistic.
To begin with, the author points out that a meerkat serve as a guard to other meerkats so that they can hunt for the food or eat the obtained food freely without being afraid of the predators. The article mentions that the meerkat, which is serving as the guard, do it's altruistic job without food and faces danger from approaching predators. This specific argument is challenged by the lecturer. She claims that the guarding meerkat usually eat well and full
before starting it's "Altruistic" job as sentinel. Additionally, she says that the guard meerkat which stand near the burrows could easily escape into the burrows while at the same time alerting it's peers of the looming predator's threat. She says that the other meerkats, which usually be distant away from their burrows, couldn't escape easily from the enemy.
Secondly, the writer suggests that the sentinel meerkat, which guards alone, is the easy target for the predator and other meerkats, which usually be in groups, could escape effortlessly from the danger. In the article, it is said that since the sentinel meerkat is alone, it has to run alone to escape from the predator. The lecturer, however, rebuts this by mentioning that the alarm given by the sentinel usually distracts predator's attention from it to it's group. She elaborates on this by bringing up the point that the other meerkats, which is in groups, typically gather or move about quickly which in turn generates enemy's attention towards them.
Finally, the author posits that humans are known for their altruistic behavior. Moreover, it is stated in the article that humans express their good nature such as share their food to the needy or even donate their organs. In contrast, the lecturer's position is that humans benefit more by doing such selfless acts. She notes that even though humans involve in acts such as donation of organs to strangers, they get appreciation and accolades from the society. According to her, "Altruistic" acts gives increased self-worth and values to the committing individual.