Please don't set up strawmen just to knock them down. It's too easy to cast everyone who has some rational scepticism as nutjob's, but that just alienates those who could otherwise be persuaded by civil discourse.

I'm not setting strawmen, this is my actual experience. Tech is not immune to this kind of conspiracies.

There's a difference between having seen examples of it, and of it being pervasive and a dominant force. All too often, we attack the weakest arguments of our opponents and ignore the more sane opposition.

There's good reason to ignore the nutjobs and focus on the rational opposition, steel-manning our foe so to speak. It makes our thinking more clear and our arguments stronger.

Even bothering to oppose the insane elements by definition does not convince anyone of anything, since no sane person on either side agrees with the insanity. All it does is momentarily make us feel superior, but it's a fleeting and counterproductive endeavour.

You do yourself a disservice when you mock people who hold opposite viewpoints.

I'm sorry but I'm going to mock anyone who suggests that Bill Gates is going to microchip people through the vaccine. These people are choosing to ignore reality, and should be put in the same boat as Flat-Earthers.

On the other hand, people are of course free to have a healthy scepticism about a new-form of vaccine, and I will happily respect that.

The microchip is not a opposite viewpoint. It is a fantasy that is trivially debunked.

It is on the same level of the viewpoint that the vaccine is unicorn blood.

Indeed the microchip is not the opposite viewpoint. The opposite viewpoint is "I won't take the vaccine" or "I won't take the vaccine right away". GP is saying the #1 reason for that viewpoint is that people think they'll be microchipped.

There are like 5 vaccines

Doesn't that concern ironically mean we should take the Russian one?

Bill Gates would only pollute the Moderna one, if those theories factored in geopolitics at all.