He then goes on to explain that while effective altruists will have different definitions for “the most good,” most of those definitions will revolve around some shared values, namely, a preference toward a world with less suffering and longer life spans (a perspective not shared by Mother Teresa, who once said, “I think it is very beautiful for the poor to accept their lot. . . . I think the world is being much helped by the suffering of the poor people”). All the data tells us that reducing poverty is the best way to achieve that goal. According to Singer, effective altruists, therefore,
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