Knowledge Survival Under Collapse: Symbolic Compression, Selection Pressure, and the Lindy Effect

This paper is a formal continuation and mechanism-focused extension of the Seed School Theory (Collins, 2025). It models knowledge survival under civilisational collapse as a selection process acting on symbolic structure rather than informational accuracy. Drawing on archaeology, anthropology, systems theory, and the Lindy Effect, the paper argues that compressed, ambiguous, and ritualised knowledge systems possess adaptive advantages under disruption. This work complements an earlier framework paper by the author and is intended to be read alongside it. Together, the two preprints provide a conceptual and mechanistic account of how symbolic systems preserve orientation across deep time when explanation and institutional continuity fail.