Symbols do not "stand" for anything. They are structures that take on a life of their own.
Tally marks stand for something: " xxx " stands for 3 items, maybe vases of olive oil in an ancient inventory written in Linear A.
Then Oeagrus, the merchant, awaited his precious cargo, and those three check marks became his hopes for the future. He offered to the gods to protect that cargo of oil: he invested time, attention, and a sheep or two. And when those vases of oil arrived, he saw them as a sign of the eternal gods blessing on him and his family.
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