I had exactly the same reaction as you. I thought it was a metaphor for decades. I think I read about it on Nautilus or Aeon around 2016/17, can't remember. Whe

I had exactly the same reaction as you. I thought it was a metaphor for decades. I think I read about it on Nautilus or Aeon around 2016/17, can't remember. When I am fully conscious, there is no inner eye for me, nothing. Sounds, noises and voices, on the other hand, are not a problem. I can play mental audio within limits. Are there actually people who can imagine smells or other sensory impressions at will? I dream partly in color, partly in black and white, sometimes more, sometimes less realistic in the representation. So, I know what it must be like to have a minds eye. When I'm half asleep during the waking/sleeping phase, it seems to me that I can deliberately invoke images. Aphantasia seems to me to be less a lack of functionality than one that is not activated under certain conditions. It's a spectrum, there are people like me and there are people who can imagine incredibly realistic inner worlds, and I envy them a little. But I suspect that this characteristic comes with its own problems. It's a little sad that I can't conjure up mental images of significant personal events, such as the birth of my children. The first time I held them in my arms. On the other hand, reports of atrocities and the like do not induce any inner images. I literally can't imagine anything in them, so they don't trigger a visceral reaction. That's a plus.