We are conditioned by experience and education to interact with certain things in certain ways.
We expect to find little crosses in the top right corner of things we can close. Rectangular-ish elements that stand out from the page can be clicked for effects. The same goes for underlined text, but we know nothing dangerous will happen (a button can delete a file, a link can’t). A straight left-pointing arrow means “back” while a curved left-pointing arrow means “cancel”. Scissors mean “cut” and ALL CAPS MEANS SHOUTING.
Some of these affordances stick around even after the original reason they appeared is long gone. How long until we have to tell our kids why the save button looks like this:
Hi. I'm Victor Nicollet,
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