In 1880 Francic Galton did a survey[0] to determine the extent to which different people were capable of mental imagery and he identified much the same phenomen

In 1880 Francic Galton did a survey[0] to determine the extent to which different people were capable of mental imagery and he identified much the same phenomenon. Some responses to his questionnaire: _"These questions presuppose assent to some sort of a proposition regarding the 'mind's eye' and the 'images' which it sees….. This points to some initial fallacy…… It is only by a figure of speech that I can describe my recollection of a scene as a 'mental image' which I can 'see' with my 'mind's eye'….. I do not see it… any more than a man sees the thousand lines of Sophocles which under due pressure he is ready to repeat. The memory possesses it, &c."_ Also related, apparently some people can make it all the way to college without knowing they have no sense of taste[1]: _"...I was stopped dead by the question of what a peach smelled like. Good. That was all I could come up with. I tried to think of other things. Garbage smelled bad. Perfume smelled good. Popcorn good. Poop bad. But how so? What was the difference? What were the nuances? In just a few minutes' reflection I realized that, despite years of believing the contrary, I never had and never would smell a peach. All my behavior to that point indicated that I had smell. No one suspected I didn't. For years I simply hadn't known what it was that was supposed to be there. I just thought the way it was for me was how it was for everyone. It took the right stimulus before I finally discovered the gap." [0] http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Galton/imagery.htm [1]https://www.quora.com/Is-going-for-a-Ph-D-worth-it-if-Im-extremely-passionate-about-a-field-but-dont-really-want-to-spend-my-20s-poor-toiling-away-in-a-lab-and-living-in-a-city-that-I-dont-particularly-want-to-live-in/answer/Mark-Eichenlaub?srid=slK&share=1