Danit Sara Finkelstein

New York State lawmakers recently rejected a bill that would have added “caste” to the state’s anti-discrimination code. Had it passed, it would have made New York the first state—following a failed attempt in California—to enshrine the Indian system of social hierarchy in its law, adding yet another category to the ever-growing list of DEI concerns. The battle, however, is far from over.

It feels increasingly, in any conversation on or offline, as if you’re speaking to a robot. Sometimes you are, but more often, and more ominously, the person you’re speaking to is real – it’s just that their thoughts, words and reactions have become robotic. The Botification of the American Mind, you might call it, and for the past five years we’ve been trying to understand how this botification has happened.