Back in college, one of my electrical engineering professors introduced a mnemonic for remembering how inductors and capacitors interact with electrical current. That mnemonic was "ELI the ICE man."

To make sense of this:

• L = symbol for induction (a property of such devices as solenoids)
• C = symbol for capacitance
• E = symbol for electromotive force (electrical voltage)
• I = symbol for electrical current

The mnemonic works as follows: ELI means that for an inductor (L), voltage (E) leads current (I). So changes to E across L leads to changes to I. Likewise, ICE means that changes to current (I) across a capacitor (C) leads to changes in voltage (E). Confused yet?

Anyway, the thought occurred to me today that the mnemonic has application to the differences between liberals and conservatives. It seems to me that with a liberal, emotional response tends to come before intellectual response. With a conservative, the opposite is true. So: ELI - Emotion in a Liberal leads Intellect; ICE - Intellect in a Conservative leads Emotion.

Nothing profound, but I needed to write it out.