You can read ungodly reams of essays defining effective altruism – which makes me wonder if the people who wrote them think that they are creating the greatest possible utility by using their time that way – but the simplest definition I tend to see is that effective altruism asks how we can do the best job of doing good. How do we not just help people but help them most efficiently and effectively? I have two visceral responses to this effort.This is a good project and worth doing.It’s an utterly absurd way to define your purpose.