In this piece Effective Altruism demonstrates its extreme, tortured commitments almost like vows: an antithesis to religious vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience.

"The do-gooder, on the other hand, knows that there are crises everywhere, all the time, and he seeks them out. He is not spontaneous – he plans his good deeds in cold blood. This makes him good; but it can also make him seem perverse – a foul-weather friend, a kind of virtuous ambulance chaser. And it is also why do-gooders are a reproach: you know, as the do-gooder knows, that there is always, somewhere, a need for help....

"To a do-gooder, taking care of family can seem like a kind of moral alibi – something that may look like selflessness, but is really just an extension of taking care of yourself....

"Julia said: 'Why is the life of someone I happen to know worth more than the lives of many more people I don’t know, whom I could help with the same amount?...'

"Children would be the most expensive nonessential thing she could possibly possess, so by having children of her own she would be in effect killing other people’s children."--Larissa MacFarquhar, The Guardian