Came across this XKCD comic strip a couple days ago. 
Its pretty funny and also illustrates something interesting - things can be arranged on a ladder of complexity. What do I mean by this? Essentially, most things (from atoms to TikTok) can be arranged on a ladder from a low level abstraction to a high level of abstraction. This axis also extends infinitely in both directions as abstractions can become infinitely complex and infinitely simple.
As illustrated by XKCD, at a relatively base level things are made of atoms. The study of the rules that govern these atoms is defined by the field of physics. If we go up the ladder, we can find chemistry which is the study of the interactions of clusters of atoms and biology is yet another step up as it is the study of clusters of chemicals interacting in a organic space. This ladder climbing continues ad infinivum with each rung a composite of the complex interactions of the rungs below it. The story of Red Riding Hood is simply an abstraced idea enabled by sociological phenomenon built upon the interactions of billions of chemical markers, which themselves are governed by physics. However, the higher we climb, the harder and more esoteric it becomes to understand. Red Riding Hood is certainly more understandable than a rhetorical analysis of Gaelic Poetry.
The same rule applies in the other direction. Starting with atoms, we can go down in layers of complexity. Atoms are made of quarks, which themselves are comprised of quantum behaviors. The further down we go, the harder it is to conceptualize - lower complexity does not mean it is easier to understand.
There seems to be a sweet spot on this ladder of abstractions in which humans are able to function best. A "Goldilocks Zone" if you will. Things like superhero stories are easy to understand. Philosophical conjuntures or quantum entanglement is not. Increasing the bounds of this Goldilocks Zone is something that takes both time and effort.
Abstraction can also apply both physically and conceptually. A painting itself is made up of the composite complexity of its parts: the chemistry of the paint and atomic structure of the carbon in the wood frame. However, the image it depicts may be made up of sociological components themselves subject to a different axis of complexity.
There may be certain things that exist outside of this axis. Concepts like Mathamatics exist somewhere on this continuum but I'm not sure where. Instinct tells me it belongs below atoms but it doesn't seem quite right. I wonder what other examples there are...