Some things have hidden meanings.

A hidden meaning can occur in two main ways:

  1. The Obvious Way

  2. The Non-Obvious Way

  3. The Semi-Imaginary Way

The obvious way is when there is a sign that says, "find the hidden meaning!"

This is the case in, say, I Spy books. The images look like piles of random crap. But they have little poems that tell you what to look for. This helps you find the hidden meaning, in the form of wierd little objects, like horse marbles or duck globes.

The non-obvious way is when there is no sign that says, "find the hidden meaning!"

This is the case in at least one node, and also in some books, such as Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, where there are non-obvious hidden meanings pointed out by more obvious hidden meanings.

Finally, we have semi-imaginary hidden meanings. In this type of hidden meaning, the hidden meaning is not hinted at, but appears anyway. It may or may not be intentional or planned.

A bad example of this is the guy who claims to have found secret messages in the Bible. Although I wouldn't put it past God to put 'em there just to mess with us.

A better example of this is, say, the hidden message in alphabet soup. It may or may not be there, but it can exist none the less.