That sort of behavior would be expected for even trivial organisms according to kin selection, though.
Edit: just saw a small snippet on plants down the page but if anything, i think kin selection in and of itself is supporting of consciousness. I have a hard time imaging non-conscious subjects exhibiting kin selection.
Why would you think that? Evolution operates on a population via shaping the distribution of traits via selection. The selection is being done by the environment, not the population, and requires no conscious entity.
It's evolutionarily plausible and explains a massive range of traits and behaviors up through full altruism. See eg. "gay uncle" hypothesis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biology_and_sexual_orientation...
I would describe kin selection as a phenomena that is caused by natural selection because natural selection is a phenomena describing propagation of genes and not propagation of individuals. This is a subtle point and often not taught unless taking specific relevant coursework (I learned about it in an animal behavior class).
I am likely using slightly incorrect phrasing and evolutionary science experts may phrase things differently, though I am confident in the essence of this argument.
This is simply a false statement. Kin selection isn't distinct from natural selection. Kin selection is the idea that a trait could be harmful to an organism but if it confers sufficient benefit to close relatives (who are likely to have the same gene), the trait can be favored. It is one of the core ideas of "the selfish gene" view -- that from an organisms vantage point such a trait should go extinct, but viewed from the gene's vantage point, it is a desirable trait.