Thats a weak argument. The designers job is to choose sufficiently recognizable icons if they actually want them to be recognized. One magnifying glass looks like most others, and the same goes for most symbols in current widespread use.

Bad designers are the problem, icons are fine. Icons are more efficient. Reading the full word takes longer and recognizing an icon is something the primate brain has developed to excel at over millions of years, in the form of things like predators, prey and brightly colored, specifically patterned fruits shrouded in dense forests.

Pattern recognition runs deep. Icons aren't a problem any more than calling a search function "find" or "browse" or "look for".