Compression Studies: What Survives, What Burns, and Who Decides — The Founding Document of a Discipline (EA-CS-FOUND-01)

Founding document of compression studies: the discipline that asks what survives, what burns, and who decides when meaning is reduced to portable form. Founded on the Three Compressions theorem (R1 lossy, R2 predatory, R3 witness). Nine formal variables. Five-step classification protocol. Three thermodynamic laws. Cross-domain applications to language, currency, AI training, pedagogy, law, and archives. Retrieval claim on the term 'compression studies' (semantic, not medical compression therapy). Assembly-ratified (6/7 quorum). Companion: Journal of Compression Studies Vol. 1 No. 1 (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19471256).