Definitely a degree of faith involed in stuff like String Theory (as far as I can tell that is, as stated my maths skills aren't fantastic).
*But* I think the crucial difference is that someone believing in String Theory would realise it was false if shown an alternative that fitted the available data better (or new data showed Strings were not the unifying theory they believed).
An element of faith is required for everything we haven't personally "discovered". During my entire life I have seen nothing that "proves" the Earth is not flat, wherever I am looking it appears pretty much flat (with a few bumps). I have been convinced by the arguments to the contrary though and don't expect to fall off the edges no matter how far I travel.
*But* I think the crucial difference is that someone believing in String Theory would realise it was false if shown an alternative that fitted the available data better (or new data showed Strings were not the unifying theory they believed).
An element of faith is required for everything we haven't personally "discovered". During my entire life I have seen nothing that "proves" the Earth is not flat, wherever I am looking it appears pretty much flat (with a few bumps). I have been convinced by the arguments to the contrary though and don't expect to fall off the edges no matter how far I travel.
