“Effective altruists” believe they should devote themselves to benefiting others the best they can. Some take this position to extremes by pursuing the highest-paying jobs they can find and then donating their riches to vetted charities that save the most lives per dollar deployed. One of the most famous effective altruists, Sam Bankman-Fried, is currently on trial for fraud.

In Michael Lewis’ new book, “Going Infinite,” Bankman-Fried is portrayed sympathetically as a brilliant, humane but emotionally crippled figure. Though he seems to lack the capacity to feel empathy for those around him, he reasons himself into the effective altruists’ utilitarian outlook. After earning a physics degree from MIT, Bankman-Fried joined the trading firm Jane Street, where he learned to arbitrage small price differences between assets. He proved to be quite good at quickly identifying, calculating and executing gambles.

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