The Hidden Evolution of Technology, Medicine, and Spirituality

By Leila Briggs

I think about evolution all the time.

Not evolution in the biblical-versus-scientific debate sense. Not Darwin. Not fossils. Not even biology, really.

I mean the evolution of things.

The evolution of ideas. Illnesses. Technology. Relationships. Knowledge. Spiritual understanding. Entire systems of thought.

What surprises me is how rarely evolution factors into our everyday thinking. In fact, it's something I have to consciously remind myself to consider. Based on countless conversations both inside and outside the healing room, it doesn't seem to come naturally. We often evaluate the world as if the things around us are fixed, when in reality they are constantly changing.

Part of the reason, I suspect, is that we are taught to think of evolution as something slow. We imagine millions of years, gradual adaptation, and changes so subtle they can only be measured over generations.

But many evolutions are not slow.

Some happen with astonishing speed.

The challenge is that evolution rarely has a clear beginning or ending. It doesn't announce itself. It doesn't arrive with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. It unfolds continuously, often beneath our awareness, until one day we notice a result and mistake it for a sudden change.

The Evolution of Knowledge

Medicine provides one of the clearest examples.

I've often heard people say, "Thirty years ago nobody had this disease," or "We never saw this diagnosis when I was younger." Yet the evolution of medicine itself rarely enters the conversation.

Our ability to observe, define, measure, and diagnose evolves alongside the conditions we study.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, ALS was often used as a catch-all diagnosis for a variety of neurological and nerve disorders. We knew enough to identify certain patterns but not enough to fully distinguish one condition from another. Education wasn't widespread. Many healthcare professionals had limited exposure to ALS outside of famous public figures. Then research evolved. Diagnostic criteria evolved. Education evolved. Technology evolved. Today, ALS markers are far more clearly understood and defined than they were a few decades ago.

That doesn't necessarily mean more people suddenly developed ALS. It means our ability to recognize it evolved.

The same thing can be said for many conditions. We've seen similar patterns with ADHD, autism, fibromyalgia, and countless other diagnoses. Sometimes what appears to be an increase is actually an increase in our ability to see.

Years ago, while my father was being diagnosed with ALS, researchers were beginning new studies. Papers were being published. Educational materials were being distributed. Knowledge was evolving as he took his last breath.

At the same time, one of my closest friends continued her search for answers through the maze of fibromyalgia, often being told it was psychosomatic. Though we know today that fibromyalgia is a very real diagnosis, many patients still struggle to be seen and understood. Meanwhile, specialists work tirelessly to identify clearer markers, stronger research pathways, and better educational standards.

The evolution never stops.

We simply notice different parts of it depending on where we stand.

Living Inside Rapid Evolution

Technology may be the most obvious example of rapid evolution happening right in front of us.

The evolution of technology reminds me of the evolution of a virus - not because it is inherently good or bad, but because of the speed at which it adapts, replicates, and branches.

Just when you've learned one system, three new ones emerge. By the time you've mastered a platform, another update has changed the landscape.

The pace creates momentum. The momentum creates overwhelm. And because the evolution is happening in real time, it's easy to forget that we're watching an evolutionary process at all.

Only a few years ago, there was a major push to encourage women to learn coding and enter technology fields. Today, artificial intelligence is changing the conversation entirely. Entire industries are trying to understand shifts that are occurring faster than educational systems can teach them.

There is often a massive gap between what experts know and what the public understands. The same gap exists in medicine. The same gap exists in spirituality.

Spiritual Evolution: The Spiritual World Is Evolving Too

For decades, many spiritual traditions operated through established teachers, prophets, gurus, or systems of authority. Information moved slowly. Access was limited.

Today, millions of people exchange spiritual experiences, ideas, practices, and insights instantly. People are no longer relying on a single voice to define their relationship with Spirit. They are developing their own.

At the same time, many assumptions are being challenged. Just like medicine and technology, spirituality is not standing still. It is adapting, expanding, and redefining itself in response to the world around it.

What we once labeled as "light" and "dark" is becoming more nuanced. Shadow work is no longer simply about confronting darkness. Divinity is no longer always viewed as a destination to achieve. Toxic positivity is being discerned. People are demanding practical spirituality that can function in a fast-moving and increasingly complex world.

Even our expectations of Spirit are changing. More people are learning that spiritual growth is not always about receiving answers. Sometimes it is about learning to sit with uncertainty, complexity, and personal responsibility.

The spiritual world isn't standing still while humanity evolves.

It is evolving too.

Or perhaps our awareness of it is evolving.

As our ability to perceive expands, we begin seeing details that were always there but previously beyond our understanding. Much like advances in ultrasound technology or medical imaging reveal structures that earlier generations could never observe, our spiritual awareness may be revealing layers of reality we were not previously equipped to recognize.

What makes this period particularly fascinating is that both the physical and spiritual worlds appear to be evolving rapidly at the same time. Historically, we tend to assume one is moving while the other remains relatively slow, steady, and stable. Yet right now, medicine, technology, communication, consciousness, and spirituality all seem to be accelerating simultaneously. Perhaps that is part of the chaos so many people are feeling.

Evolution in Motion

Perhaps one reason so many people feel overwhelmed right now is because we are living through multiple rapid evolutions at the same time.

Technology is evolving.

Medicine is evolving.

Society is evolving.

Human awareness is evolving.

Spiritual understanding is evolving.

We keep trying to understand these systems as though they are standing still when, in reality, they are moving faster than ever.

Maybe the answer isn't to immediately decide whether these changes are good or bad.

Maybe the answer is curiosity.

Because sometimes what looks like chaos from the inside is simply evolution in motion.

And perhaps this is why curiosity has become one of my most valuable spiritual tools.

Whether I'm reading the Grid, working with a client, watching technology unfold, or observing changes in the spiritual community, I try to remember that I am rarely seeing a finished product.

I am witnessing evolution in progress.