Ah, okay, that makes significantly more sense. I didn't think DNA could change, but teachers seem to absolutely adore telling us things that are not true simply to reaffirm what knowledge we need to get good grades. Unfortunately that can be very demoralising for those who learn for the sake of knowledge rather than for the sake of a slip of paper at the end.
On the bright side, this had enabled me to think very flexibly. So epigenetic coding is not part of the DNA itself, but another component of a cell, similar in structure and role to DNA that details how the information encoded in DNA is used? Does it affect how the DNA itself is read, or how the mRNA transcribes the information?
... Sorry for the questions. You can ignore them, it is completely fine. ^^
So one could argue that if one makes others happy throughout their life, they are furthering the mental development of their prospective offspring. That is funky. It's always lovely to be reminded that happiness can overrule past sadness, if only for a while.