A Projection-First Reframing of String Theory

This paper develops a projection-first reinterpretation of string theory in which its characteristic features—extended excitations, closed-string universality of gravity, D-branes, holography, modular finiteness, and the landscape—are understood as consequences of finite admissibility of description. Strings are interpreted as capacity-optimal encodings rather than fundamental constituents, closed strings as global bookkeeping modes, and branes as admissibility boundaries. The reframing is explanatory and conservative, preserving standard string-theoretic results while clarifying their structural origin and limitations.