The Reality Of A Garden

Philosophically, some people say that we perceive appearances and infer reality. I think that it makes more sense to say that we perceive reality as it appears to us. Appearance is our perception, not the object of it. The object of perception is reality although that single reality appears differently to organisms with different sense organs. 

The idea that we infer reality arises because reality does differ from appearance. The Sun appears to rise above the horizon, move across the sky and sink beneath the opposite horizon whereas in reality Earth rotates. An apparently single solid stationary object on the Earth's surface is really many moving particles and is not stationary because, with everything else on Earth, it continually moves around the Sun and the galactic centre. 

Given that reality and appearance differ, it should not surprise us to learn that reality differs not only from appearances but also from any expectations that we might have about it. The smallest part of a solid object is not a very thin slice but a sub-atomic particle. Also, atoms are entirely unlike small planetary systems.

What does this have to do with Poul Anderson? We approach the point. My perception of our backyard is caused by the reality of a backyard. In the emulation, Christian's and Laurinda's perceptions of a garden are caused by the reality not of a garden but of a conscious AI program. There can be two completely different causes of an identical effect. Despite its "unreality," at least as we usually think about such things, I really like that garden:

Christian's And Laurinda's Base Emulation (see here)