before we understood genetics we understood altruism on an individual level. it is making a decision that might not be optimal for you yourself as an agent for the benefit of someone else.
once we discovered more about evolution and genetics we were able to deduce that all of our actions and programming have to be intrinsically selfish. that is, they have to work for the benefit of themselves. but they don't necessarily have to benefit the individual organism that they inhabit. and that is where the leeway for altruism comes in. you can have an organism sacrifice themselves for the benefit of the genetic lineage. that is basically sacrifice with no reward for that individual organism.
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