§5 · transgenerational transmission

A parent's environment reaches a child only as a drive that survives two erasures

The SET is byte-identical parent→child; only the drive is inheritable. Two genome-wide reprogramming erasures square a mark's survival (p → p²), so heritability ranks by barrier — ascending γ, Spearman ρ = 0.995. The inherited sign is preserved, an RNA-only drive fades, a deep-barrier mark persists. [V].

At reprogramming noise D = 0.22, a shallow switch (γ = 1.34) survives one erasure with p = 0.6685 and inherits across two at p² = 0.4469, while a deep switch (γ = 1.4525) inherits at 0.5238 — deeper inherits more.

The genome itself does not move

Parent and child read the identical γ (DAZL = 1.3803, byte-identical); the environment never rewrites the SET. Whatever crosses to the next generation crosses as a drive on an unchanged switch.

The firewall squares survival

A germline mark must survive two genome-wide reprogramming erasures — in the primordial germ cells and again in the zygote — so its probability of reaching the next generation is multiplied, not added. Depth wins: at the same noise the deep switch inherits at p² = 0.5238 against the shallow switch's 0.4469.

Heritability is barrier ordering is γ ordering

Across the measured 13-gene germline atlas, survival rises monotonically with γ (Spearman ρ = 0.995). This is the central prediction: which marks inherit is set by the barrier, and the barrier is set by the measured promoter.

Two carriers, two decay laws

The inherited sign is preserved through the firewall (ON stays ON, OFF stays OFF). But the two writers decay differently: an RNA-only drive dilutes each generation and drops below detectability by F3, whereas a deep-barrier methylation mark is still detectable across the same horizon. The generation index here is illustrative; the wild count is [O].