They did so, but only if all the brain was supposed to be able to do was add or memorize. New systems give minds new things to do. So maybe for the first time, the next information surge will encourage minds to think in idiosyncratic ways that were never possible before. It may free every human being's hundred-billion neurons to express themselves in ways not limited by the availability of paper and ink or the requirements of examinations. We can only guess at the surge effect of this release.
Nobody knows what the fully empowered individual can do, because there has never been one.
But it is urgently necessary that we begin immediately to use information technology to prepare us for the eventuality.