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When I read about past events in the universe (i.e. big bang, formation of the sun and planets, etc) future events (i.e. sun becoming a red giant) and distant objects (black holes, nebulas, galaxies, etc), it appears to me that a big assumption is always made:

The laws of physics observed from earth today are the same throughout the universe, and throughout time.

My question is: do we have any evidence that supports this assumption? Or do we make this assumption simply because we have never seen evidence to the contrary?

Qmechanic
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nosson
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  • Does this answer your question? Do the laws of physics evolve? – JMac May 09 '20 at 23:20
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    Never having "seen evidence to the contrary" is actually quite good reason to believe that a pattern holds in general. We also can't prove that gravity will work again tomorrow, but we do believe that it will since we've never seen any evidence to the contrary. But, looking towards the extremities, that is usually where holes in the pattern are found (such as Newton's laws not holding true at the quantum level). What happens at the edges of the universe really is just something noone knows but only assumes. – Steeven May 09 '20 at 23:24
  • The recognizable spectral lines in the light of distant galaxies are evidence that quantum physics hasn’t changed in billions of years. – G. Smith May 10 '20 at 00:43

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