t was Spencer who coined the term “super-organic,” which, following its use by Kroeber in 1917 in his article “The Superorganic,” has been accepted as designating the unique and distinct elements in human behavior, and therefore as synonymous with “culture.” But by “superorganic” Spencer meant no more than what the term means literally: something beyond the purely biological. To him the term was essentially equivalent to “social,” and he included within it the behavior of bees, rooks, beaver, and bison, as well as that of man ([1876-1896]