Subject: how can we presume to know anything about the 'universe'?

We can sense such a tiny portion of the cosmos that I think it is ludicrous to 
believe that we can know anything at all about the universe and how things 
behave there. Isn't it colossal hubris/naivete to ignore the distinct 
possibility that the pocket of Universe we happen to occupy may have it's own 
set of rules which apply here and only here? and that, outside of "here" it's 
anyones' guess how things may work? i.e.: How is it impossible that there 
could be static areas of the Universe? Just because they are (or aren't)too 
far away for us to sense, does that make their existence "impossible"? p.s. 
I'm sorry if this question is more philosophic than scientific. They are much 
the same to me. I only seek truth, and use whichever tools I need to get me 
there! This is probably an old argument I'm presenting, but I'm only an 
armchair academic and I have to plead ignorance if that is the case.

Re: how can we presume to know anything about the 'universe'?