The simulated universe

It occurred to me that it is possible to simulate the universe in the aspects that we can perceive. Since it is not possible to move about on the scale of the complete observable universe it seems that it would be actually fairly simple to simulate the spectrum of energy which observed as being the universe outside Earth. It occurred to me because I was considering how a spacecraft could approach and be undetected. If it kept to the path of a star, it could simply mimic the spectrum of light between Earth and a star. I then wondered how many pixel points would be needed to make something that was believable. Electromagnetic energy is a pretty thin fact to judge the whole of the universe and it is an assumption step that could be incorrect.

Presumption is prior assumptions that get added to a process and can become hidden in time. Sometimes these presumptions are acquired in an age when it is easy to accept that nobody could fake the stars. Certainly the observation of the planets has been confirmed by mechanical measurement, but the substance and reality of the rest of the universe is not as certain.

The same is true of many scientific processes. Many presumptions live deep in the structure of the data. In the area of physics, there are points where assumptions have been made when no other possibility could have been considered. As time passes and more evidence is accumulated, the entire process is never revisited in light of new data due to its utterly astounding complexity when compared to a human intelligence and capability. It is the time, memory, training, and complexity of thought that serves as the scale we cannot surpass without instrumentality or biological extension.

Incomplete data about the universe and the limited certainty of it, could lead to some very large changes in how we understand the universe. I have noticed some very odd anomalies in some of the data sets that imply things that I can't yet accept without further positive correlation.

ADDED: Consider a malicious alien with a sense of humor positions craft around the solar system and emits energies of a star with atomic lines shifted to the red to mock a distant star or galaxy. Now wouldn't we be embarrassed.