Belief in vitalism
Belief in vitalism
Although vitalism has been thoroughly discredited by science and rejected for more than 100 years, belief in vitalism is among the most common pseudoscientific beliefs. This belief is generally not explicit, but accounts for widespread belief in ghosts, the afterlife, near death experiences, and various alternative healing methods. The average believer in any of these would likely be surprised to find the belief described as vitalism.

Intuitive notions of human movement and thought incline toward spirits. From the religious perspective these may be viewed as souls. The average person would likely be uncertain of whether spirits are natural or supernatural.

Notions of metabolism and electrophysiology are vague and not intuitively connected to their actual roles. There is perhaps little hope of convincing those who understand neither electrophysiology nor metabolism that chemistry, rather than "vital forces," brings about thought and motion.