♥ a heart that looks nothing like an anatomical heart

★ a five-pointed star

☀ a circle with rays

🏠 a square house with a triangular roof

💡 a light bulb meaning “idea”

We learn visual conventions by repeatedly encountering them.

Who knows how to draw the “Cool S”?

Who taught you?

Where did you first see it?

Do you know who invented it?

Why did generations of schoolchildren reproduce it?

A near-perfect classroom specimen of anonymous cultural transmission.