techno156 t1_ixgt7w5 wrote
Reply to comment by boomchacle in [WP] The ritual calls for 100 sacrifices, but after reading it carefully you realize that it never specified they had to be human. Deciding to be the smartass that you are, you got a petri dish full of bacteria and sacrificed them instead. by Prompt_Dude
>I wonder why they couldn’t just sacrifice individual cells if it works like that. How does the power scaling work here? Is it one second of bacteria equals one second of human life? Millions of bacteria seconds would absolutely blow everything else out of proportion. (Which to be fair does seem to happen a bit, but not as much as I would expect if it was a 1:1 ratio)
Maybe they didn't think of it before, or thought that there was something special about an animal/human that powered the sacrifice?
Ihav2bluecats t1_ixh9q9c wrote
As with everything sometimes people just don't question the logic, if it's seen like equivalent exchange or similar you would probably be biased to think a human is worth way more than an animal and especially bacteria.
colonelhalfling t1_ixha4j4 wrote
Just a thought, but human lifespan, at least non-cancer ridden human life span, is believed to be governed by the telomeres in our DNA. They act as 'protective caps,' if you will, that help ensure good copies, but they get 'worn down' by the process. If that 'life sacrifice' was basically inhibiting the function of telomeres in the body, then sacrificing individual cells is what they are already doing. As they use magic, more of their own cells will be killed in order to avoid negative mutations (ie, cancer) until the ability of the body to stop it from happening is overwhelmed.
Not an expert, just fascinated by DNA and, well, the effects of small changes in the code that can causes big issues.
849 t1_ixjairm wrote
Some lifeforms can regenerate their telomeres.
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