... and pass on their selfish genes rather than altruistic genes. The theory does not have a reason of why altruism is still present today. This is called the paradox of altruism. The kin selection theory is sad to account for this paradox. The kin selection theory says that altruistic behaviour occurring between family members occurs because it protects the closely related genes of those members, which allows their genes to be passed on altruistically from generation to generation. This is backed up by research done on animal behaviour, where nearly always parents protect their young from danger. This is backed up by the meercats, where they protect their immediate relatives as well as their distant relatives. The kin selection theory also suggests that altruism is mainly aimed at the people who are close to us; this would make the gene pool better for the next generations. This theory says that we ...

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