This is something that has been bothering me for a while as I’m diving through space articles, documentaries etc. All seem to take our observations for granted, which are based on the data of the entire observable universe (light, waves, radiation…) we receive at our, in comparison, tiny speck. How do we know we are interpreting all this correctly with just the research we’ve done in our own solar system and we’re not completely wrong about everything outside of it?
This never seems to be addressed so maybe I’m having a fundamental flaw in my thought process.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmological_principle
We don’t, but it’s the simplest explanation that’s consistent with our observations.
If it’s not, then we can’t actually know anything about anything in a very real sense.
A related question is “how do you know that the universe outside your mind is real?”.
You don’t. You can’t disprove solipsism, but the existence of external reality is as consistent and significantly more actionable, so most people choose to follow that belief.
There are a few assumptions in scientific pursuits and the Cosmological Principle is a big one