  Basic multimode impedance analysis grounded in the availability of
nonequilibrium charge carriers and their retarded path towards equilibrium is
used to access the inadequacy of equivalent circuits in nonlinear systems with
inherent memory. On the basic grounds of generation and recombination (or
trapping) of nonequilibrium carriers and their relaxation times, we show how
seeming complexity of frequency-dependent impedance that matches a vast
universe of experimental evidences can be reduced to simple combinations of
basic microscopic ingredients. Counterintuitive features such as a negative
capacitances or unexpected inductances become a metaphoric construction with
poor physical meaning, pointing to the limitations and ambiguities of the
symbolic nature of ``equivalent'' circuits. Our approach further provides a
microscopic perspective that exposes the linkage of an apparent flux with an
apparent inductance dismissing any magnetic essence.
