Let us go by parts here, the beginning of your answer is somewhat similar to mine
Now the tree: I have had this discussion before, but with a chair instead of a tree, and my opinion didn't change much since then, you're looking to the same tree, but in a different perspective when compared to the other person, you can't really se the whole, even if it was a 2D cartoony tree, you can only see a part of it, you can't see all the layers at once, but I believe the perspective you get from a single angle can be considered one of the realities of the tree
... edit: just noticed I didn't went by parts