Comment by lukasgraf

This is outside the context the "Open File" dialog from your original question, but here's another tip about "navigating up":

In many application windows you can navigate the hierarchical directory structure that contains the currently open file by right-clicking on the document name/icon in the window's title bar.

E.g. in Preview, Pages, Finder, ..., hover over the file or directory name in the window's title bar. If you right click on it, a pop-out will appear with a vertical hierarchical list of that file's parent folders. Selecting one of the parent folders will open a new Finder window at that location, allowing you to quickly navigate to a file's containing folder.

And some additions to the tips in other comments:

- Dragging a file or directory from finder to the terminal will paste its path onto your shell

- iTerm has Finder integrations. Right click on a folder in Finder, Services -> New iTerm2 Window Here

And you might enjoy some of these Finder tweaks from my "dotfiles" (just run them on the shell):

  # Set Documents as the default location for new Finder windows
  # For other paths, use `PfLo` and `file:///full/path/here/`
  defaults write com.apple.finder NewWindowTarget -string "PfDo"
  defaults write com.apple.finder NewWindowTargetPath -string "file://${HOME}/Documents/"
    
  # Finder: show hidden files by default
  defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool true
  
  # Finder: show all filename extensions
  defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleShowAllExtensions -bool true
  
  # Finder: show status bar
  defaults write com.apple.finder ShowStatusBar -bool true
  
  # Finder: show path bar
  defaults write com.apple.finder ShowPathbar -bool true
  
  # Keep folders on top when sorting by name
  defaults write com.apple.finder _FXSortFoldersFirst -bool true
  
  # Enable spring loading for directories
  defaults write NSGlobalDomain com.apple.springing.enabled -bool true
  
  # Use list view in all Finder windows by default
  # Four-letter codes for the other view modes: `icnv`, `clmv`, `glyv`
  defaults write com.apple.finder FXPreferredViewStyle -string "Nlsv"
  
  # Show the ~/Library folder
  chflags nohidden ~/Library && xattr -p com.apple.FinderInfo ~/Library 2>/dev/null && xattr -d com.apple.FinderInfo ~/Library
  
  # Show the /Volumes folder
  sudo chflags nohidden /Volumes
  
  # Expand the following File Info panes:
  # “General”, “Open with”, and “Sharing & Permissions”
  defaults write com.apple.finder FXInfoPanesExpanded -dict \
    General -bool true \
    OpenWith -bool true \
    Privileges -bool true