The Blowtorch Theory: A new model for structure formation in the universe

Early Supermassive Black Holes & “Blowtorch” idea

• Central claim: enormous numbers of very early, long-lived SMBH jets (“blowtorches”) carved voids, seeded filaments, and magnetized the cosmic web.
• Several commenters note that the real tension is explaining how such massive black holes form so early; direct-collapse black holes are raised as a proposed mechanism but may still struggle with required numbers and growth rates.
• Some find the hypothesis appealing because JWST has found very early quasars and SMBHs, which strain standard formation-timescale arguments.

Relation to ΛCDM and Dark Matter

• Strong criticism from some that ΛCDM uses many tunable parameters and is retrofitted to anomalies (e.g., cusp/core, early structure, JWST results).
• Others push back: point out ΛCDM’s core cosmological parameter set is small and empirically constrained, and that it quantitatively explains CMB peaks, large-scale structure, and lensing.
• Disagreement over whether dark matter–based simulations are “CGI” and epicycles, or robust demonstrations that gravity + CDM naturally form the observed web.
• Some note Blowtorch Theory currently does not explain rotation curves, lensing mass, or other classic dark matter evidence.

Predictions, Falsifiability, and Math

• Supporters emphasize that the broader “three-stage cosmological natural selection” framework made qualitative predictions before JWST (early SMBHs, rapid galaxy formation, abundant early jets) which they claim were later supported.
• Critics argue these are broad, qualitative “cool story” predictions, not quantitative outputs of a model. Without equations or simulations, they see it as a narrative, not a physical theory.
• Several insist that a viable cosmological model must reproduce CMB, expansion history, large-scale structure, and be implemented mathematically; otherwise it’s not testable at the necessary level.

Cosmological Natural Selection & Universes in Black Holes

• The evolutionary, multiverse parent theory (black holes spawning new universes with slightly varied constants) is seen by many as the most speculative component.
• Some find it an elegant way to address fine-tuning and the anthropic principle; others say that without a concrete mechanism for inheritance of constants, it’s philosophy or SF, not science.

Writing Style, Communication, and Scientific Culture

• Mixed reactions to the article’s style: some praise it as engaging and accessible; others complain about meme-y headings, excess links, and perceived “dissing” of ΛCDM as making it sound crackpot.
• Debate over whether a novelist’s qualitative synthesis is a useful “ideation phase” that should later be mathematized, or just another unrigorous private cosmology.
• Meta-discussion on peer review, funding, and whether entrenched consensus in cosmology is too resistant to alternatives.