Well then read the paper! I'm in your same position. Also with "Would Bohr be born if Bohm were born before Born?".

EDIT: I started reading it and it gets into reeeally good stuff:

Simp – There are predictions from string theory as well.

Sal – Like?

Simp – Like large extra dimensions. Supersymmetry. Transitions that cannot happen in the standard model.

Sal – You mean that if we do not find the experimental consequences of large extra dimensions we conclude string theory is wrong?

Simp – Of course not, large extra dimensions exist only in very special models.

Sal – So, the experiments on extra dimensions cannot kill string theory?

Simp – No they cannot.

Sal – And if supersymmetry is not found at the scale we expect, we do not abandon string theory?

Simp – No we don’t. It will be at a higher scale.

Sal – So, which experiment could kill string theory, in principle?

Simp – Nothing I could think off. The theory is very strong.

Sal – Seems to me is very weak. A good scientific theory is a theory that can be falsified.

Simp – I am not a philosopher ...

I'm rooting for Sal!

The author was pretty clear about who the protagonist was supposed to be...

Sal – I am reading a book, written long ago, where I just found this phrase: “perch`e i nostri discorsi hanno a essere sopra un mondo sensibile, e non sopra un mondo di carta.” Roughly: “our arguments have to be about the world we experience, not about a world made of paper”.

> I'm rooting for Sal!

So, I guess, you can falsify that string theory can't ever be falsified. Or are you just riding the bandwagon?

Well, I was rooting for her because the story paints her as the hero; and because not being able to think of a falsifying experiment for your favourite theory is pretty damning.

Honestly I don't understand the specifics of the theories, and I wouldn't know if string theory is actually not falsifiable.

On second read I realise that this is a straw-string-theorist ready to be knocked down. It was still an enjoyable read though.

The Rovelli paper dates back to 2003, it looks like. Has a likely winner emerged, or would 'Sal' and 'Simp' end up rehashing the same points in a similar conversation today?