‘Tasking’ and ‘Thinking’

Characterizing the simple plot of “Into the Woods” as “excessively intricate” and “[requiring] an audience to multitask to an unusual degree” speaks volumes (“An Invigorating Trip,” by Don Shirley, Feb. 12). Such characterization clearly suggests that today’s audiences are uneducated or undereducated.

But then, if schools allow watching the Hollywood version of “Romeo and Juliet” instead of reading the play, and if reading lists consist of only current, politically correct drivel and if each student gets to pick a different book so no meaningful class analysis is possible--then, of course, “Into the Woods” is too complicated.

The information age makes available lots of factoids but, increasingly and alarmingly, analytical and critical thinking are not being developed. When all we are doing is “tasking,” we are not “thinking.”

STEPHANY YABLOW

Sherman Oaks