The Lessons We Learn From Animals

Categories: Animals My Favourite Animal Pets Pig

Essay, Pages 4 (822 words)

Views

219

Altruism. It's a funny sounding word that kind of sounds like "all true ism.” It's a concept where someone does something to help another person without receiving anything in return. More times, this relationship is even harmful to the person doing the good deed. If this is true, then why would somebody want to be altruistic if they will just end up getting hurt? And how much of altruism is "all true"? Maybe to better demonstrate selflessness, we shouldn't be looking at human examples.

Don't use plagiarized sources. Get your custom essay on

“ The Lessons We Learn From Animals ”

Get custom paper

NEW! smart matching with writer

Wild animals have always been thought of as dangerous and unpredictable. But what if these untamed creatures have the capability to feel compassion? In this speech, I will share three real instances of animals that show just how easy it is to be noble.

This first story sure won't shell itself short. It was a warm day in June 1974, when a ship named the “Aloha" sank off the coast of the Philippines. One woman was stranded in the ocean when all of a sudden she saw something swimming towards her.

Sweet V

Verified writer

Proficient in: Animals

4.9 (984)

“ Ok, let me say I’m extremely satisfy with the result while it was a last minute thing. I really enjoy the effort put in. ”

+84 relevant experts are online

Hire writer

As it swam closer, she freaked out thinking it was a shark. Soon it was upon to her, and it was... a giant sea turtle? Without thinking, the woman grabbed onto the turtle's shell. The woman was clearly delirious from the shipwreck and didn't comprehend what was going on.

Fortunately, the turtle had enough sense for the both of them. For two days, this sea turtle painstakingly swam with the woman holding on. The turtle did not stop to dive down for food, it just kept swimming.

Get to Know The Price Estimate For Your Paper

Topic

Deadline: 10 days left

Number of pages

Email Invalid email

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy. We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

"You must agree to out terms of services and privacy policy"

Write my paper

You won’t be charged yet!

Eventually, the Philippine Navy spotted the woman, and thought she was holding onto an oil drum. When they pulled her to safety, they finally noticed that the woman's savior was a swimming reptile. Satisfied with the rescue, the sea turtle then swam away, one small hero in one vast ocean. That turtle practically starved to help this woman to safety.

This next story sure won't boar you. One day, Jack and JoAnn Altsman, a quaint couple went on vacation to Lake Erie. For company, they decided to bring their pet pot-bellied pig, Lulu. Because what's a vacation without your pet pig? Once they got settled in their campground, Jack decided to go fishing at the lake, so he left his dear wife with their pet. JoAnn didn't mind being left alone, until she felt this familiar pain in her chest. She became dizzy, and suddenly collapsed. It turned out she was having her second heart attack that year.

Lulu the pig immediately ran over to see what was wrong. When JoAnn wouldn't respond, Lulu started nudging her owner. JoAnn thought that Lulu just had to use the bathroom, but little did she know that the pig was trying to help her stand up. As JoAnn kept lying on the ground, Lulu realized she was in danger. So Lulu frantically squeezed through the dog-door to get outside. She then slammed into the gate, breaking it down. Lulu tried to get help by lying in the road. This caused a traffic jam, but no one understood why a pig was just casually in the road.

Eventually a man stopped for the pig to see what she was doing in the street. The pig bolted off, and the guy followed her. When he saw JoAnn lying on the floor, he scrambled to call 911. Soon JoAnn was in the helping hands of doctors, all thanks to this one animal.

That pig may be chivalrous, but I'm not lion when I say this last story will shock you. It was June 2005 in the country of Ethiopia. A 12 year-old girl had been walking home from school when she disappeared from sight. No one knew where she went or what happened to her. It took a week after she went missing for the authorities to find the girl. What surprised them the most was the fact that three massive lions surrounded her. Apparently, she had been kidnapped by four men who were forcing her to marry one of them. When the girl was discovered her kidnappers were nowhere to be found. What had happened was the lions heard the girl's cries and mistook her for a lion cub. The large cats chased away her kidnappers, and continued to guard the girl for over 12 hours, ensuring that no one else attacked her.

Now these stories are only a few of the many examples I could find on animals risking their lives to save people. There might be biological reasons behind why these random events occurred, but the end result is the same. And if it's so easy for an animal to help someone, then why can't it come naturally to people as well? David Rakoff once said: “Altruism is innate, but it's not instinctual. Everybody's wired for it, but a switch has to be flipped.” So let's flip that switch from off to on and make compassion “all true.”