Who is greater in Torah than Moshe Rabeinu? He was taught Torah directly from the Nossen HaTorah! Yet when he heard the teachings of Rabbi Akivah, he could not follow and “cholsha da’ato” (till he heard R’ Akiva say that ultimately it was halacho l’;Moshe m’sinai).
In halacha too, the halacha is a “living tree”, – lo b’shamayim hee, it was given to CHazal to use the 13 middos that the Torah is darshened with, plus the future chidishei Torah and the rulings of gedolei ha’poskim to which we are bound.
The Rambam followed his halochos, as did the Rosh and Rif, but the Tur decided how we should behave and what our halacha is, yet the Bais Yossef compliled the shulchan oruch, and the Ramo glosses for Ashkenazim, but that did not end to be the final halacha. The Magen Avrohom and Taz, the pri Megodim and others might overrule earlier halacha.
Then the gedolei achronim of poskim: The Rav Shulchan Oruch, the Oruch Hashulchan, the Mishne Brura …and the hundreds of poskim I missed.
Did they “perfect” or just ADD CHUMROS???
no!!! They are the R’Akiva that Moshe could not follow, they are the halacha of our day – different then the Rambam, Rosh or Rif.
It isn’t technology, it isn’t perfecting or chumros – it is the evolution of halacha, a living tree.