The black hole information problem highlights a persistent tension between unitary evolution in quantum mechanics and entropy accounting in gravitational systems. Standard approaches often introduce additional assumptions or new dynamical elements to reconcile these descriptions. In this work, we examine whether this tension can be reframed as a problem of constraint compatibility across established physical principles, rather than a failure of underlying theory. We introduce a constraint-hierarchy analysis based on the Principle of Informational Weave–Carroll–Wells Gradient (PIW–CWG), which organizes the conditions under which physical systems remain definable, consistent, and persistent under known limits on energy, entropy, and information capacity. Informational quantities are treated as bookkeeping constructs constrained by established bounds, including Landauer’s principle, the Bekenstein bound, and relativistic causal structure. Applying this framework to black hole evaporation, we evaluate how horizon-based encoding, thermodynamic cost, global entropy constraints, and observer-dependent descriptions interact across multiple consistency layers. We show that apparent information loss can be interpreted as a mismatch between constraint-preserving compression at the horizon, thermodynamic requirements on information transformation, and the requirement that distinct observational descriptions converge on the same invariant structure. In addition, the framework is extended to a cross-scale classification analysis spanning physical, geophysical, biological, and frontier systems. This classification evaluates systems based on constraint strength, independence of observables, and model determinacy, and distinguishes between overdetermined, provisional, and stalled regimes. A key result is that systems may be strongly constrained without being uniquely determined, leading to envelope-constrained descriptions at higher levels of complexity. This analysis does not introduce new physical degrees of freedom or modify existing dynamics, but provides a structured method for identifying where constraint compatibility must be enforced across domains. The framework is explicitly falsifiable: it is invalidated if cross-layer constraint compatibility fails in physically realizable systems while established physical laws remain otherwise satisfied. Version 1.1:Formatting and structural revision for journal submission. Adds cross-scale classification framework, figure standardization, and classification-level falsifiability criteria. No changes to underlying framework or conclusions. Keywords: black holes, information theory, gravitation, entropy, quantum mechanics, cosmology, constraint-based analysis, cross-scale classification
Charles Carroll (Mon,) studied this question.