ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that the distinction between macro- and micro-phases of societal experience derives from the fact that much of society has blended with processes of natural selection. It introduces the processes that comprise the macro framework. The chapter is concerned with processes of regulatory expansion through which human society deals constantly with natural selection. The micro-macro distinction usually contrasts events observed in a large temporal-spatial scope or plane with those occurring within a small scope and as part of a larger picture. Natural selection is a finite process that concentrates events that tend to reduce the equilibrium status of the society and dissipate it. If the macro frame is partly non-human and beyond direct control, and partly under control, then an important aspect of micro/ macro relations is the issue of how a hierarchy continues to expand controls. The micro/macro framework is useful because culture has enabled human beings to create social hierarchies.
