Adaptive Cycle in 3D
February 02, 2009 02:37AM
From Thomas Homer-Dixon, The Upside of Down:
Holling and his colleagues use a three-dimensional image to represent the relationship between a system's rising potential and connectedness and its declining resilience. The shape looks like a distorted figure eight or infinity symbol floating in space. In the foreground is the growth phase - a curve that moves upward as the system's potential and connectedness increase. At the same time, the curve moves forward in three-dimensional space - toward the observer - as the system's resilience declines. Holling and his colleagues call this part of the adaptive cycle the "front loop." It represents a process of incrementally rising complexity. At the top of this curve, the system collapses. Things happen fast as the system descends into the "back loop," where it undergoes a rapid process of reorganization before beginning once more the slow process of growth.
Image after: Todd Barsanti in The Upside of Down, based on C. S. Holling, "Understanding the Complexity of Economic, Ecological, and Social Systems." (pdf)
