How do I deal with the vast number of research papers on a topic? (for non-academics)
The situation for academics is actually quite similar to that of non-academics, when faced with any discipline where they are not already an expert.  In cross-disciplinary interactions, we are all the laypersons for the other disciplines.

I find that when I am trying to learn about a new area, often the first problem is even just to figure out what the right words are to search for.  Every discipline has its own specialized vocabulary, and often the words have unexpected meanings.

As such, my approach tends to be as follows:


Start with Wikipedia or textbooks or some other similar popular (but well referenced!) source.
Identify key terms and key sources, and use those to find some good scientific review papers to read.
That will often be enough, since I'm often less interested in bleeding-edge theories or origins than in the current community consensus.  If not, however, then the review papers generally give enough context that I can follow references forward and back from the review papers, search key words I learn from those articles, or look for other papers authored by key players.