Fourier's theoretical system, described by one scholar as "vast and eccentric,"
[14] was only a part of the output of what another called "a most riotous and unpruned imagination."
[17] Fourier believed that in the new world people would live for 144 years, that new species of friendly and pacifistic animals such as "anti-lions" would emerge, and that over time human beings would develop long and useful tails.
[14] Fourier also professed a belief in the ability of
human souls to migrate between physical and "aromal" worlds.
[14] Such thinking was set aside during the last 15 years of Fourier's life, when he instead began to concentrate on testing in practice his economic and social ideas.
[18]
