..even a single instance of imagery can tilt how you see the world one way or another..

That is really interesting. Thanks for sharing it. I have always been interested in how the brain operates.

I studied acoustics some years ago while a grad student in music, and, similarly, discovered there is no such thing as sound outside of our minds.
All through our atmosphere are compression waves. Those near enough to be detected by our ears rattle our ear drums, which turn the rattling into electricity, in response to which our brains concoct something we call sound.
The universe is silent.