“Putting the question in this way, there is no satisfactory solution to decoding. One would be drawn into an endless process since every level of decoding would reveal another one waiting to be decoded. Every symbol is just the tip of an iceberg in the ocean of cultural consensus, and even if one got right to the bottom of decoding a single message, the whole of culture past and present would be revealed. Carried out in this ‘radical’ fashion, criticism of a single message would turn out to be criticism of culture in general.”

Vilém Flusseur, ‘Towards a Philosophy of Photography’