I can even show my hand: it is a resistor, a nonlinear resistor to be precise. Why? because its state is determined by the present values of voltage and current (and not their derivatives and integrals like capacitors, inductors, and memristors).
You could distinguish between resistors and nonresistors just based on your stated criteria, but then neither actual resistors nor LEDs would qualify since their previous history determines their thermal profile (temperature and internal gradients) and probably other things--thus their states are not determined solely by present values.
Well, that is true for everything. In all circuit theory textbooks the essential traits of a components are isolated, and the secondary effects are neglected (until later chapters where all effects are combined).
I mean, this is the ordinary way of teaching circuit theory everywhere:
Resistors, it's voltage vs current
Capacitors, it's voltage versus charge
Inductors, its flux versus current
Memristors, usually not mentioned (but its flux versus charge)
But a lot of people have trouble in recognizing that.
I just wanted to see how widespread this misconception is.
Some ways of understanding things are more useful than others. I think most of us understand the operation of an LED well enough to fully utilize and accomodate its characteristics without classifying it as a non-linear resistor. Can you explain how considering it a non-linear resistor is helpful?
I am a black swan hunter, and misconceptions like these are the main food of black swans. I see this as a failure of connecting the dots between different chapters of the same book: it is in a separate chapter, it has a different name, so it has to be something different. Nah, it's just in a different chapter and has a different name.
(Minor) case in point, in this other venue it was stated that the DMM could not read the resistance of the diode (alone) because the diode is not a resistor (I have to double check the phrasing). This is a misunderstanding of the nature of the component and of the operation of the DMM.