Oh, I wasn't expecting the question, haha.

It's probably easiest to link my favorite videos on the subject, but in short-ish:

The exact way that crack-conspiracist thinking manifests can definitely differ, but the bottom line is that the belief is usually fulfilling some kind of emotional niche. Listlessness, powerlessness, loneliness, etc. This is the reason that the most vulnerable to this kind of thinking are disaffected types who don't have much going on in their lives.

A person might think they care about the earth being flat, but the thing that actually keeps them there is the excitement that they're privy to a secret that makes them special just for knowing it, or the feeling of spiteful and vengeful superiority that comes from knowing something that you don't, or the narrative of ascension that says, when this secret is finally exposed, the special ones will be catapulted to the top of society where they were always meant to be.

If you took flat earth from flat earthers, there's a good chance they would just sideline into a different conspiracy theory, probably one they've already been exposing themselves to, because it's something that fulfills the same emotional need.

My favorite video on conspiracy/cult dynamics at the moment is this one about that Gamestop stocks thing that happened. I like it because it covers how conspiracists plug-n-play their own beliefs to protect the core of what they want to be true.

But, this one is actually about flat earth, so maybe it's more relevant.