How do you know when a conspiracy theory is very unlikely? The more important it is and the more people who must participate in it, the less likely the theory is to be true. That’s why you can write off flat earth theories almost instantly with very little knowledge of science.

For a start, probably more sound footing not to start with a presumption presented in a pejorative, to be truly open minded and enquiring, seeking the truth.

The flat earth stuff's fascinating...

Bear with me. LOL.

There are several allusions being masked by the dumb litteral.

And I don't mean the under-the-fundament or matrix simulation stuff.

For one,

Maps.

For another, arguably even more intriguing,

Legal fiction. (And all bureaucracy and its reductivism (~ see, not just "flat" because it (once was) on paper)).

"The flat earth", being a term used to refer to these.

But, if all you ever hear about is the dumb literal stuff, and presume to know, and believe your beliefs, unwittingly being naive realist, then you never get to the deeper stuff.

Non-belief ftw.

It helps you look deeper, beyond the shallows.

"It is the mark of an educated mind, to be able to entertain an idea without necessarily accepting nor rejecting it" -- ... Who said that?

Far fewer babies get flung out with the bathwater, with this approach.

Then also, it's easier to see more of the lies within lies, and the lies so vast that not even their inverse are true, and can easier cease identifying with any position on any matter, and watch, unscathed, as strawmen are felled all around you.