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Great Mosque of Samarra

Double Gyres
File:Bas2xGyre2.gif

An upward spiral is a three-dimensional shape consisting of a spiral moving upward as it loops around a center. The loops of the spiral may also vary in width as height changes, becoming narrower or wider to form a cone. Another term for a three-dimensional spiral is a gyre.

Upward spirals are a commonly recurring conceptual metaphor associated with self-reinforcing change and positive growth. They are a specific case of the spiral, which is one of five shapes whose symbolism is universal across cultures. The others shapes are square, circle, triangle and cross.

(There are parties) in fields such as Positive Psychology, Conflict Resolution and Complexity Theory who have made use of the metaphor (in the following ways) to provide guidance in the follow (diverse) domains. What these have in common is a Systems Dynamics model of growth.

Geometry

Although spirals occur in many forms in nature and construction, all spirals share these common qualities:

• They are centered around a single point
• They wind around that point
• Iterative.......
• Progressive.......

Additionally, some spirals, such as the Golden Spiral, amplify as they progress.

Upward spirals, when used in metaphor, tend to involve an additional vertical dimension in which each progressive step along the spiral moves further along the vertical axis without doubling back. Thus for each vertical point, there is only one corresponding point along the spiral.

In addition, an upward spiral typically includes a sense of directionality, treating the spiral as a path along which something travels. In an upward spiral, movement progresses upward along the vertical axis. By contrast, a downward spiral refers to a three-dimensional spiral in which movement progresses downward.

Symbolism

Upward motion is common associated with positivity, growth, status, health, control or influence, virtue and quantity increase. When combined with spiral imagery, upward spirals are used to refer to constructive self-reinforcing change, growth, cyclicism, repetition, and mutualistic cooperation of multiple elements and growth. An example upward spiral might be a brainstorming session, in which good ideas trigger more advanced good ideas.

By contrast, a downward spiral refers to a situation that self-reinforces to worsen with time, such as an escalating conflict.

Historical Examples

• Arab spring
• IRA story
• US Civil Rights Movement

Connections to Systems Thinking:

Some schools of thought which include methodologies for creating upward spirals include:

• Stephen Covey
• Positive Psychology
• Worklore
• Rule #8 / UpwardSpiralNow
• Paul Krafel

Example Usages of Upward Spiral Imagery:

In Art and Architecture:

• Great Mosque of Samarra
• Spiral staircases

In Economics & Politics

• UpwardSpiral2011.org
• Current Upward Spiral Page

In Education

• Spiral_approach

In Spirituality

• William Butler Yeats
• Kundalini yoga, yoga therapy

References

• http://www.rulenumber8.com/what-we-do/company-in-house
• upwardspiralnow.com
• http://www.yeatsvision.com/Geometry.html

Disambiguate:

• Spiral

Link From:

• Stephen Covey
• Yeats
• Kundalini
• Positive Psychology
• Positive Organizational Behavior
• Management Consulting
• Change management