But search requires you to remember the name of the file. The icon requires you only to recognize the picture . For our visual brains, recognition is much faster than recall.

Every day, millions of us perform a small, almost unconscious ritual. We find a file, a program, or a folder. We right-click. We scroll to "Send to." And we select "Desktop (create shortcut)."

Suddenly, your desktop wasn't just a background image. It was a real desk. You could put papers (documents) on it. You could toss things in the trash. You could arrange your tools (applications) within arm's reach. Decades later, the desktop has evolved into a psychological battlefield. You can tell everything about a person simply by glancing at their screen’s real estate.