benlehman

ABBA, basically. As all the above comments seem to suggest, the crux of the issue is really in the first question. If it convinces me, and I'm an atheist, then all the rest kind of follows, doesn't it? Presumably the study is convincing on grounds I already accept, and therefore it has just become another piece of information about how the universe works. Nothing has been challenged because (it seems to me that) the whole scenario begs the question of my atheism.

More interesting to me was that the first time through I only read the 'religious practice' rather than the 'practice of a particular religion.' The former scenario doesn't even suggest a different world to me; meditation seems healthy, for example, and I would be entirely un-startled if someone proposed that a particular religious diet or ascetic practice was healthier for people. The second scenario (particularly if you go with the 'all praise Ra' vs. 'all praise Odin' example given above) is far more challenging, and seems qualitatively different, but of course I can imagine it so A is still the answer.