This essay was written by Lower Sixth Form student Joe Millar as an Independent Learning Assignment (ILA) project. It was the winning submission in the STEM category of the 2025 ILA/ ORIS award. The following provides a short introduction to the full report, which can be found below:
Altruism refers to the tendency of social organisms to display prosocial
behaviour to other individuals at their own detriment, or without benefitting themselves. At first, it appears to be an evolutionary paradox. If anything, selfish behaviour – the opposite of prosocial behaviour – would appear to be the most certain path towards reproduction. Even so, across the human and natural world we see evidence of altruism occurring. Whether it be in insect colonies or human civilizations, altruism appears to
be an integral part of the global ecosystem. This essay will attempt to explain the evolutionary, psychological, and chemical reasons why we see altruism so often in nature.
The Unchained Library 