I’m not saying in an unqualified way that a simulated tree is the same as a real tree. I’ve said that if we’re in a perfect permanent simulation, then the real trees of our universe are simulated trees—that is, real trees have been digital trees all along. On the other hand, if we’re not in such a simulation and are merely looking at one from the outside, then the trees in the simulation are completely different from the trees in our outside world: Simulated trees are digital; real trees are not. The real trees of our world have been nondigital entities all along. Either way, digital entities
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