The Persistence Layer Framework: A Transferable Instrument for Detecting Drift in Systems Under Pressure

This preprint presents the Persistence Layer Framework: a transferable diagnostic instrument for assessing whether systems retain the capacity to detect and correct drift, or whether they are preserving visible form while the underlying correction function degrades. Developed initially through analysis of religious transmission across six historical cases, the framework is extended to language survival, institutional continuity, legal traditions, scientific craft, AI alignment culture, and live strategic conflict analysis. The framework operationalises five diagnostic gates — carrier chain integrity, correction locus, threshold vocabulary stability, redundancy channel health, and drift resistance — alongside…