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I had a few ideas but I'm not sure any of the words I thought of would get the point exactly right. Anyway, I thought of using the phrase "zoomed out" as in:

He zooms out of a description on how drugs affect the human brain to a more general view of their impact on society as a whole.

I'm not sure this works though.

Any ideas on whether this works or what I can replace it with?

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    You can step back to take in the broader canvas.
    – user205876
    Commented Mar 10, 2020 at 22:13
  • If you had given more context, it would be possible to say if "zoomed out" works.
    – Greybeard
    Commented Mar 10, 2020 at 22:33
  • @Greybeard is this better? I tried to add the sentence itself.
    – wishiwasawordsmith
    Commented Mar 10, 2020 at 22:38
  • @wishiwasawordsmith Many thanks. The problem with "zoom out of something" is that is can mean "move at great speed" or be an allusion to a camera lens. If you want to use "zoom" in the figurative sense then "He zooms out from a description [...] to a wider view of [...]." -- That should take care of the photographic metaphor.
    – Greybeard
    Commented Mar 10, 2020 at 23:18
  • "He transitioned from a detailed description of how drugs affect the brain..."
    – tblue
    Commented Apr 9, 2020 at 23:20

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He {broadened or expanded} his {perspective or application} on how drugs affect the human brain to a more general view of their impact on society as a whole.

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I like zoom out. There's also:

  • generalize
  • take a bird's eye view
  • take a broader view
  • look at the bigger picture (perhaps over-used)
  • induce (as in inductive reasoning)
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