This is a very interesting way of describing it, and worded this way I think I'm the same way.
It does feel like paying attention to a different input stream -- just like that -- although it's still not a visual that replaces the darkness, but I'm getting, what I would say, the effects of seeing the apple.
Minus the last couple sentences, I would describe things the same way you did in terms of visualizing, and have experienced all those things.
Along the same lines as the young woman you're experiencing, I used to get out of body experiences/sleep paralysis/waking dreams (pick a label) nightly when I was in my 20s, and I would see shadows and outlines of what would seem like energies. That was mostly non-visual and interpretive, which feels more like my minds-eye than a dream.
Not to go off topic, but ever try communicating with the shy woman?
When I think of a black and white apple in the context you described, vs. a red or green one, there's a difference. The way you've explained it makes me feel like we're similar, and I'm definitely putting too much emphasis on visual.
My sister, though, said when she thinks of something in her mind it's "blurry like [she doesn't] have glasses on", which sounds highly visual.
I'm wondering if it's more about semantics and a tomato/tomato like thing -- technically anything we visualize is calling up a memory, or at made up of various components from memory.
I'm struggling to figure out if my mind's eye "sees" anything, or if I'm just imagining the concept of the item I'm thinking about. If I'm comparing this vision to having a dream, say, it's certainly not visual.
"...there is a simple and helpful test that can give you a clue into whether you may have it: Close your eyes and try to imagine an apple, seeing it mentally in your mind's eye. If you can see anything (anything at all—even a blurry outline), you do not have aphantasia. If you see a void of complete darkness, you might have aphantasia." (https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/aphantasia-test)
When I imagine an apple, I don't see anything that could be considered visual.. I can "see" it, but it's certainly not visual as this suggests.
Anyone here seeing an actual rendering with their eyes closed?
I had a few long covid symptoms -- for background, I got covid in early March of 2020, and one of the symptoms I had was complete loss of smell for about a week after, followed by a recovery period that never got me back to 100%. After detoxing with the ingredients in that formula, within a couple weeks my sense of smell is back to what I consider normal, and I feel more clear overall, for lack of a better phrase. I am still taking this formula daily, but more for general health, along with a supplement called Wellness Formula.
I'd say if your Dad is experiencing symptoms around his sense of smell, it wouldn't hurt to try! Most of the ingredients are easy to get online and are great for general health, regardless.
If you grab the ingredients (or a bottle), let me know how it goes! I've been recommending this concoction to people quite a bit lately, and I don't know if it's placebo or what, but it seems to help.
In either case, all the best for you and your father!
Please see my comment on the parent -- my lingering symptom was loss of smell, along with some cardio issues. While I haven't tested the cardio side "for real, for real" yet, I'm a couple months in with that concoction and my sense of smell is back to what I remember prior to my covidx2 experience.
I don't want to keep spamming a link, but please see my above comment regarding an ingredient list that helped me quite a bit -- I feel like myself again.
You can find most of those quite easily, although I had a bit of a hard time getting my hands on some of those enzymes. Been taking that recipe for a couple months now and my sense of smell has returned to full blast. For reference, I got COVID two times.
We're hiring at S23NYC, Nike's Digital Innovation Lab in NYC. We're very close to the SoundCloud NYC office -- we can see your Wifi!
Feel free to spread this to anyone in engineering in the NYC office (or anyone willing to relocate to NYC). Hit me up directly: jon.apostoles(at)nike.com
Mainly looking for native iOS and Android engineers, and backend engineers.
It does feel like paying attention to a different input stream -- just like that -- although it's still not a visual that replaces the darkness, but I'm getting, what I would say, the effects of seeing the apple.