Yup, Larry's artwork has got it.
We tend to organize our thoughts based on the direction of signal flow when we figure out system wiring, so it is kind of a revelation to use one wire for signals going in different directions.

Then again, I still run into guys who insist that a splitter can only split, not combine. This is where taking the time to talk to a vendor's salesman who loves to swap stories can help -- if we understand just what the splitter does, we can figure out how to creatively misuse it.