

It’s less that digital things can’t be alive and more that to be alive you need to exist independent of technology that’s simulating your life for you. All biological organisms pass this test. Data passes this test. The Doctor and every other hologram does not.
If you want to call the human body and perception an equivalent, I’ll point out that when you cut yourself something has actually occurred to your physical body, it isn’t just your brain seeing a knife and deciding it hurt you.
But hey, you are welcome to disagree at which point holodecks become extremely unethical. This is, after all, just philosophy.












Julian and Miles feels the most real to me.
Kirk and Spock are a close second, but only because we saw that they love each other in their ways, but they didn’t spend a ton of time chilling out together on screen (camping Yosemite was great though)
Harry and Tom third, they really had a good influence on each other and they spent a lot of holodeck time together in Sandrine’s/Hawaii/Captain Proton/Fairhaven.
Julian and Garak was a lot of fun, but I think it’s overshadowed by Miles. Lunches and holodecking is all well and good, but Julian would turn to Miles for real stuff (although when he turned 30 that was Garak…)
Sisko/Dax is good but it relies on Curzon a lot. The on screen time with Jadzia is focused more on how she’s not Curzon, but they obviously still have a lot of love.
Geordi and Data is a little too mentor-y. Like they’re friends, but Data is more relying on Geordi for a humanity check, and Geordi gets advice from elsewhere on women (for obvious reasons) and that undercuts the bromance level I think.
Nog/Jake are great, and I would put them higher except they’re kids for most of the show and I feel like a bromance should probably be reserved for adults (kid friendships are different level). Although they do keep it up until adulthood if The Visitor is still accurate.
I guess Malcolm/Trip then, but honestly they thought they were going to die in a shuttle once but that’s kinda it. Been awhile since I watched ENT. If anything Trip/Archer.
Odo and Quark have mutual respect, but there’s too much antagonism to be a bromance.
And Neelix / Tuvok is non-existent. Tuvok can barely stand Neelix and only comes to grudgingly tolerate his antics after half of his personality is suppressed IIRC. The fact that Tuvok throws Neelix a bone and dances when he leaves is evidence he softened, but not that they were bros.