169

Without
Posted on January 24, 2013 by David M Willis

169 thoughts on “Without”

  1. NCP19

    Oh, it’s so on.

    Did you hear?

    It’s so on.

    1. Sir Robin

      The levels of on-ness are off the scales, that’s how on it is right now

      1. Yotomoe

        It’s so on that it hurts.

        1. Resne

          It’s so on and it needs to get off.

        2. wererat2000

          I think they’re already getting off…

        3. schadetj

          You can tell it’s the correct levels of On when it hurts just right.

        4. Farmer_10

          Well that just magnifies the level of on-ness that’s going on right now.

        5. Tucker

          It’s so on, it’s somewhat reminiscent of Donkey Kong.

        6. Jenny Creed

          It’s all the ons. There’s not even a little off left.

      2. Jason

        It is on in a way that is very much like Donkey Kong.

      3. Mally

        Your Rarity gravatar makes your post all the better.

    2. Sir Robin

      http://youtu.be/ImgHoGgCn8U

    3. Gordon Blvd

      oh please!!!!!!! please please please please PPPLLEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAASSSSSZZZZZZZEEEEE!!!!!!

      do I have to beg?

      lol

  2. Kafloobop

    Those are some mighty sharp teeth.

    1. Doctor_Who

      Tell me about it. Does she file them to look scary, or is she just turning into a werewolf?

      1. Yotomoe

        She has actually grit her teeth so hard that it became THAT.

      2. Khrene Cleaver

        Didn’t you know? A sex starved woman is a werewolf.

    2. Plasma Mongoose

      Just when you thought it was safe to tutor English….

      1. Aizat

        I tutored English and the only thing I got was guys jealous at me and some of the girls hitting on me(but me being a thick 15 year old, I didn’t noticed it at the time)

        1. Chris

          I tutored english and got payed $15 an hour.

        2. David

          i tutered english and got payd eleventeen billyun an hour

        3. KHNO

          I tutored bass, and got paid 15 beers an hour. I didn’t last two days, so I’m trying totutor english to get spayed a Billy then Eisenhower.

  3. ASmellyOgre

    Now KISS!

  4. David Herbert

    She’s about to bone up on her English.

    1. Wonder Wig

      I laughed so hard lol

    2. Sensedog

      I imagine that she will get the thrust of his explanation.

    3. Plasma Mongoose

      If only she could wrap her head around his.

    4. Doctor_Who

      Their upper lips aren’t the only thing that’s stiff.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        I bet she will be spotting some dick very soon.

        1. Doctor_Who

          “Keep Calm and Get it On.”

    5. Yotomoe

      I think she’s starting to come around.

      1. Plasma Mongoose

        She will be needing that cigerette for what will happen very soon.

        1. Yes Son, I Am Space

          Ten minutes from now, HE’S going to need a cigarette.

    6. Plasma Mongoose

      He’s gotta conjugate her verbs out.

      1. LaurelRaven

        🙂

    7. Blade dog and destroyer

      I see what ya did thar

    8. Roborat

      So to speak.

  5. Blob Marley

    Oh, he looks so rugged!

    /swoon

  6. jrgolden42

    All aboard the Jason train. Next stop – Bonertown

  7. ArkhamTexan

    C’mon, c’mon, c’mon, c’mon, c’mon, c’mon, C’MOOOOOOOON! I’m just waitin’ for it… get to the doing the sex part! Send all the shippers (me included) crazy! YOU KNOW YOU WANNA!

    1. Yotomoe

      Don’t raise your hopes! Willis only wants to send you crashing down!

      1. Aizat

        Just like real life.

        1. AckAckAck

          Willis is our school guidance counselor?

        2. EclipseMouse

          Willis disappointed me in bed once…

        3. ArkhamTexan

          Maybe this time he’ll play it straight and actually play into our expectations? The swerve could be that there IS NO swerve! It’s like M. Night Shama-whatever, except with a guy that does WAY better storytelling!

          Yep. Nothin’ to look forward to but safe, hot, not-subverting-expectations sex. Nothing can possib-lie go wrong this time…

  8. Count Dracula

    Did Jacob just take OFF his BOWTIE?

    This alternate universe sucks. I demand another.

    1. Wack'd

      Jason. Jacob hasn’t shown up in Dumbing of Age yet.

      1. Count Dracula

        I acknowledge my failure to type on this one.

    2. Plasma Mongoose

      bow-ties are like socks, you best be taking those off before you get some action.

      1. Yotomoe

        Some people like to do it with their socks ON.

        1. Blob Marley

          Apparently, women are more likely to climax with socks on. I read it on them internets.

        2. Count Dracula

          Well, they’re more likely to perform well if they don’t get…cold feet.

        3. Humson

          *gunshot* You deserved that. Getting shot is you PUNishment.

        4. Yotomoe

          *shoots* and you deserve that. Getting shot is your GUNishment.

        5. Aristophanes

          There’s a lot of violence developing here. I guess this is what happens when a Pun Is Meant

      2. ArkhamTexan

        I have actively ignored the sock gap just to prove that’s not true. However, the downside is that EVERY TIME I have sex now, I think about Jeff. I am doomed to an eternity of picturing that curly-haired bag of neurosis every time I’m makin’ it with a woman. That’s… goddammit…

    3. dunder

      No, you idiot! He put his bowtie into seduction mode. Bowties make you look like a dweeb until they’ve been untied. And then you look like a badass. True fact.

    4. VersasoVantare

      He may have further bowties hidden about his person. You never know.

      1. Josh

        He has bowties stashed all over town, in case of bowtie emergancys.

        1. EclipseMouse

          I’m sensing the need for a side-comic, one about Jason and his Myriad of Stealthily-concealed ties.

  9. Wonder Wig

    The clock says it’s nearly a quarter past something.

    1. begbert2

      Probably seven, unless they’ve moved the numbers around again.

      1. Wonder Wig

        I think that’s what happens during daylight savings time.

  10. Ter

    Let’s get daaaaaangerous~

  11. Digidestined of Trust (Tim)

    I like Algebra, maybe I can give it the right-brained approach so Sal can better understand this

  12. Kafloobop

    ……Sal’s mouth in the 4th panel looks like a tiny boomerang. I will never unsee that.

  13. Dirigible

    I think I’d like to change my bet from Mike/Your Mom to Sal/Jason

    1. BranTheQuixotic

      Agreed!

    2. Josh

      Don’t worry, Mike/Your Mum are going at it right now.

  14. Yotomoe

    So the BOWTIE was holding back all of his sexiness. He wears it as a PRECAUTION.

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      The bowtie is like a sexual=charisma dampener.

      1. Aizat

        Not for the Doctor.

        1. Plasma Mongoose

          The Doctor’s bowtie works as a heatsink to prevent his hotness from cooking himself.

        2. Makkabee

          So THAT’S why he wears things that are cool!

    2. Aizat

      So, Jason’s bowtie is a sexiness inhibitor or a restraint?

      1. Raiser

        Think of it like Piccolo and Gohan’s weighted shoulderpads. He’s been “fighting” this whole time with a handicap.

        He’s finally gotten to the point where he feels it necessary to dramatically toss the weighted duds aside with a mighty thud, prior to spending the next three minutes showing her what he’s capable of when he’s “done warming up”.

        (If you couldn’t guess, I’m implying that he’s going to break into a Gilbert and Sullivan patter routine.)

        1. Roborat

          Two potential answers, can’t decide what to use:

          1) Yea, but it would take him the rest of the term to finish “warming up”.

          2) Gilbert and Sullivan? That would be so many kinds of awesome.

    3. Vabolo

      A bowtie is to Jason as a Power-save belt is to a Machoke.

  15. Aizat

    Well, it could be a beginning of a beautiful friendship or something else entirely.

    1. AckAckAck

      It’s the beginning of a beautiful bonership.

  16. Kernanator

    I can honestly not think of a time, in either universe, that I have seen Jason so disheveled.

    1. Yotomoe

      Which is saying something since he fought on the front lines of many battles in an intergalactic war.

  17. AnonyMouse

    PANEL FIVE!! PANEL FIVE!! I CHANGE MY ANSWER IN THE SITE POLL!!

    1. Questionor

      Are you sure Mike hasn’t already boned your Mom?

      1. Buckybone

        Another reason why he’s changing it.

  18. John

    C’mon, Jason, it’s been twenty years since Calculus for me, and I could still give a less circular explanation of dx than that. You’re deliberately tormenting Sal by keeping her here with lousy tutoring until she succumbs to nicotine withdrawal and sexual frustration, aren’t you?

    (I just realized that I took Calc before DoA Sal was born. Holy Cheese, I’m old.)

    1. Jacob

      I’d be interested in seeing a less circular definition. MY problem with whatever definition he was going to give was that it seems like its not right. dx is not a derivative. Its a differential. dx is really just another variable.
      d(y(x)) = y'(x)*dx. So dy is a function of two variables: x and dx. (Note that if y = x we have d(x) = 1 * dx = dx . Also, dy/dx = (y'(x) * dx)/dx = y'(x) )

      For more info:
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Differential_of_a_function

      Anyway, my point was that using a derivative in the definition isn’t circular its just wrong.

  19. Aizat

    Quick question, what course is Sal taking?

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      A course of penicillin. 😀

      1. AckAckAck

        It thin the blood, so it will circulate well to several “important” areas.

  20. Phillip Wilde

    I hate to be that person, but that’s not how you untie a bowtie. You tug on both ends to undo the bow part and then undo the original simple knot.

    Meanwhile, they are going to bone so good. I love it when a ship sails itself.

    1. Sporky

      Maybe that’s what he did in panel four while the panel was on Sal.

  21. Bob

    I know that’s Sal’s left elbow in panel one, but when you look at it from another perspective…

    1. David

      Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

      1. Yes Son, I Am Space

        Well, we DID already get a dose of Walky-wang…

  22. Uniqueantique

    and the next panel will be empty chairs…

  23. wynne

    Slope! Just talk about how it’s the sideways part of the slope!

  24. Ayer

    If I didn’t know better I’d say Jason’s about to offer her a more lung-healthy alternative to suck and blow on…

    1. Aydr

      …I don’t know if my avatar is disapproving of my impropriety, or that I misspelled my own username. Damn iPhone.

  25. AckAckAck

    It’s rare to see that face expression of her. She blushed too!

    1. Plasma Mongoose

      She wants to taste the lime.

  26. Audiophillie

    Ahm I the only one who thinks Sal looks adorable in Panel 4?

  27. silverbelle

    To hell with Sal. I’ll take Jason. With a twist of lime.

  28. mrlshade

    Yes, it’s D-Agony and dx/dt….Coming Soon to a serialized parrallel multi-universal-many-arced-web-comic near you!

  29. scabbert

    I so called this.

  30. Phil

    Am I the only one that has Sal as Applejack as the headcanon voice?

    1. pizza2004

      Grah! Now I’m gonna have to find a way to distract myself so that doesn’t commit to memory! 😀

    2. Krylani

      Nope. /)

    3. Plasma Mongoose

      Only if I can imagine Jason with Stephen Fry’s voice.

  31. Valdrax

    So, who thinks that Jason is fully aware of the sexual tension and just doesn’t give a flip about it?

  32. Zababcd

    It suddenly occurs to me that if only these tutoring sessions were shown in more detail, then this could be part of a secret plot to improve mathematical literacy in webcomic readers.

    By the way, it appears that my poor Billie/Sal ship is now under fire from both sides. Port and starboard sides. Port being an alcoholic beverage, and consequently Billie. I have no humorous explanation for why Sal is the starboard side.

  33. Seawee

    Nooo, she aint going to….naaaaah

  34. Shobo

    I had a gigglegasm when I realized what was going on. 😀

  35. Farmer_10

    She isn’t really asking the right question either or Jason isn’t explaining it right. With Math it’s not about what this is, it’s about what it does and how it works. You can explain theory all day but without any practical examples you’re not gonna get anywhere. At least that’s how it was with me. Practice it a few times and THEN the theory started making sense.

    1. clodia

      But I’d say that her stated problem is that she doesn’t know how to ask the right question. Being able to ask the right question gets you half the way to understanding the answer.

      He ought to be trying to explain it in different ways, rather than simply how it primarily makes sense to him. Or he ought to recommend another tutor.

  36. tahrey

    No, no, it’s not on YET… Sal’s still got her bike gloves on. They might be good for one type of riding, but not all of them.

    Also, screw calculus. Figuratively and literally. I knew what dx was for all of about six months, ie from about the time we started covering it in class to the time of the exam. Nowadays? No chance.

  37. thyx

    Curve discussion … (eh, sketching isn’t quite the same)
    Anyway, reading It’s Walky a 2nd time, I’d bet it takes them 5 years (real-life). Well, easy to falsify, so it‘s Science(tm).

  38. T Campbell

    Can I change my poll answer?

  39. Pinja

    Bow chika bow wow

    1. Farmer_10

      That’s what my baby says.

  40. Jackson

    No, you guys! Don’t do each other! It is a bad decision that you will regret! Remember that smart people always do the right thing!

    1. KHNO

      It’s better than to regret good decisions. That’s always the same with me: I’m starting to get that I can be proven wrong, but still can’t assure myself to be proven right…

  41. sandbridgekid

    Hankius Pankae Superbus!…beautiful music commence…eine kleine bang bang

  42. gameaddictwn

    Next time on Dumbing of Age:
    Sal and Jason are about to kiss and we are left with a cliff hanger for the weekend.

    1. begbert2

      You mean for the month.

  43. Jmacq1

    Can’t help but think he’s going to shoot her down. But he really should know better, undoing the tie and unleashing the sexy like that. I don’t think he even knows he’s taunting her.

    Or maybe they’ll just get it over with and bone.

  44. The1exile

    Hours? Chin up Jason. It’s been like 35 minutes at most according to that clock.

    1. David

      This is the only comic in the archives in which you can see a hand on the clock through the dialog balloons: http://www.dumbingofage.com/2013/comic/book-3/01-if-the-shoes-split/crackin/

      And it’s the hour hand.

      1. The1exile

        Ahhh. That makes sense then. I thought he was just really lazy 😀

  45. Tenn

    This looks like a job for George Takei.

  46. Joe

    Sensors indicate a high probability of Hatefucking before the end of the storyline.

  47. Charles RB

    THIS.

    Will not end will

    1. Kemp

      It will not end, Will.

      It will never end.

  48. james

    So Sal’s cotter is emerging to see it’s shadow?

  49. Das BookPimp (@The_BookPimp)

    i knew if i read long enough this strip would turn into a 70’s porn movie.

  50. Anonymous

    Great amusement at her reaction to {his transition from panel one to panel five}, as well as at the transition itself.

    —

    (*mostly to self*) dx is an infinitesimal change in x, df(x) likewise for f(x), and df(x)/dx is effectively the slope of f(x). That much I remember. What I don’t remember, disturbingly, is why you subtract one from an x’s exponent and multiply its coefficient by its former exponent. C and x, yes, but x^2 or higher… hrm.

    I now want to search that down and learn it intuitively again. By contrast, I remember enough about integration to recall that carrying it out usually involved a torturous toolbox of tricks for rearranging expressions into something that could be integrated. So that field I won’t be revisiting until I find a way to artificially augment my cognitive abilities substantially.

    The derivative of x^2 is 2x, and that checks out with the negatives of the parabola, but /why/…

    Oh gods. When trying to relearn this, inadvertently slammed into references to the product rule and the chain rule. Skin crawling to a startling degree, given how much I enjoyed maths in theory. Going and doing something completely utterly unrelated now. Curiosity being the problem.

    df(x)/dx = f'(x), then there’s df'(x)/dx = f”(x), the slope of f'(x)… no problem there, but why… why is 2x the slope of x^2…!? I was actually taught that, yes? I wasn’t just taught what to do with the numbers without being told why!?

    ….no, no, no….

    http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1914

    ?

    1. drs

      Newton’s quotient. f'(x) = the limit of [f(x+h) – f(x)]/h as h -> 0. h can be delta-x, or dx, if you prefer. For finite h the formula is the slope of a secant line connecting two points of the curve; as h goes to 0 it becomes the tangent line, the slope at a single point.

      Plug in a polynomial like f(x)=x^2 and you should get 2x, if your algebra hasn’t atrophied. Trig derivatives are trickier, it’s easy to set up but you have to do some clever geometry to see that the limit of sin(h)/h is cos(h).

  51. Anonymous

    Belatedly noticed: dy/dx is the derivative of y with respect to x. ‘dx’ alone is not in fact a derivative of anything. If Jason is in fact trying to explain dx as as though it’s a derivative of something in itself (rather than a limit delta), this may somewhat explain why someone he’s teaching directly is having so much trouble.

    1. Pie

      Precisely this. I am putting all the blame here on Jason, who is clearly unable or unwilling to explain the underlying concepts.

  52. Alexx

    Hoo boy, I feel that pain. I’ve been in Sal’s position of trying to force my brain around a concept that it refuses to understand and fully realizes it has no use for. My brain likes to put up blocks when it catches on that it’ll never see or use this information again outside the class.

    1. begbert2

      And then your mind immediately leapt to sex, I presume, because that’s how it works?

      1. Zap Rowsdower

        There is nothing sexier than derivatives. NOTHING.

        1. Jacob

          Quaternions?

        2. Ross

          LIKE!

  53. Eri

    I very much like where this seems to be going

  54. Dagrabbit

    Um… and how about that Sohcahtoa, amiright?

    *sighs and goes back to the kiddie table*

  55. I teach math for a living

    dx is not a derivative, it’s a differential (an infinitesimally small increment of the variable x). A derivative would be dy/dx (the derivative of y with respect to x) or, in a different notation, Dy. No wonder Sal doesn’t understand.

    1. I also teach math for a living.

      If the course is on differential forms, it may still be a derivative. Granted, x isn’t the most common letter for a form… and differential forms aren’t usually taught to freshmen.

    2. Zababcd

      If only Sal could read the comments section.

    3. m__

      Actually, in a differential form usually dx (as in ω=a(x,y)dx + b(x,y)dy) is used as one of the base vectors of the dual of the space over which ω is defined. Not that this would help Sal much.

  56. Makkabee

    Jason undid his bowtie. Meanwhile in another comic Clark has taken off his glasses.

    Shit just got real.

  57. Tarkada

    without the bow-tie Jason is pretty kickin it.

  58. Doug Dean

    Never ask a TA a question like that. Pretty consistently they are clueless about the abstract concepts behind the subject and are only good for rote learning or working over specific problems. the place to go for a question like that is the actual professor in his office hours or hire a tutor who actually understands the comcepts and can explain them to a newbie.

    1. I also teach math for a living.

      Eh, generally math TAs should have a solid grap on elementary calculus and quite a lot more, otherwise they wouldn’t be awarded the position. It is true however, that young TAs often aren’t that good at teaching students, since often they were at the very top of their college class.

      1. Doug Dean

        *Snork*! Sorry, I couldn’t help it. You just described the ideal. The reality is that a large portion of TAs are just recent grad students trying to get through their Master’s with a minimum of distraction. There are also a lot of people who do Calculus very well without really understanding it completely. Those people, who make up a major part of the TA community, are great for questions about specific problems and algorithms, but when you ask them something like “what is dx, really”, they can’t go beyond their “talking points” and just spit out the same thing over and over because they can’t afford to admit that they don’t really know. It’s not entirely their fault; the acid test of really understanding a concept is the be able to explain it to people who is starting from scratch. I don’t mean that they don’t have a basic background in Trig or Algebra, but newbies from a Calculus perspective. Concepts like dy and dx are very abstract and hard to pin down (actually Newton was pretty disdainful of them and preferred the simple “f'(x)” notation) and very frustrating when the person explaining them to you tends to take you on a circular primrose path.

        Of course, the college also has a lot to do with it. One could probably more reasonably expect a TA from MIT to be up to the task than one from IU.

      2. Doug Dean

        Example:
        “What’s dx supposed to be?”
        “A derivative.”
        “What’s a derivative?”
        “It’s what you get when you figure out dy/dx.”

  59. ridtom

    Dat Derivative……

  60. someguywithakatana

    I guess it’s time for Sal’s….

    (puts on glasses)

    Cumming of Age…

    1. JA

      Unleash your anger, Sal. Give in to the desire for angry sex.

    2. Blade dog and destroyer

      YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  61. L_86

    …I’ve read a lot about the innuendo but honestly panel 2 seems like it’s ripped out of the Doom comic.

    RIP AND TEAR! RIP AND TEAR YOUR GUTS!

  62. swk3000

    I keep hearing about other comics that are apparently related to DoA, but there’s no links page, so I have no idea how to find them. Help?

    1. Notebooked

      Shortpacked, Roomies!, It’s Walky and Joyce & Walky?
      http://www.shortpacked.com and http://www.itswalky.com (that site has both Roomies! and It’s Walky!. Willis is working on uploading Roomies! in chronological order, too, at http://www.bringbackroomies.com.)

      Is that what you were looking for?

  63. GrrArg42

    If she is not getting derivatives, try integrals… maybe a nice exponential… study the area under some curves… you know… have fun with it. Math is fun. ; )

  64. Richard

    Ho. Ly. Crap. I just realized what an abysmally terrible tutor Jason really is.

    She’s having trouble understanding *what* dx is. And he doesn’t say, “It’s how x changes”

    I mean, no, it’s not a perfect explanation, but it’s way better than just repeated “the derivative” over and over. Jason sucks.

  65. Ross

    dx isn’t a derivative, it’s a differential.

  66. Pingback: Webcomics Top 6 | The Electronic Window

  67. newllend

    I think I might know one of the inportant ones you need, and I think I can help you with it

  68. Pingback: Dumbing of Age - Bisexual

Leave a Reply to Roborat Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

*

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.