People commonly rely on a myriad of ways to convince people of their hoax being true. Often, these attempts of persuasion attack one’s uncertainty, opening up an entire realm of possibilities. For example, the ocean has not been entirely explored since ships only follow exact trade routes; therefore, in some lurking corner of the vast ocean, in not only its wide but unfathomably deep dimensions, the existence of Mermaids does not seem entirely far fetched. Furthermore, Barnum, in his promotion of The FeeJee Mermaid, claims that “faith is sustained by the testimony of travelers and others in all ages of the world, and that is as good an authority as we have for the existence of many of the wonders that we constantly hear of”, and thus attacks one’s gullibility and lack of ability to disprove it (Cook 109). In the modern world, the same is true for potential alien life on other planets. To the uninformed listener, an enormous, relatively unexplored realm, such as the solar system or universe, is boundless as the ocean was to the now frowned upon mermaid myth. Barnum also quotes a “Professor of History in the City of New York”, who says: “I have wondered that its existence should so long have been doubted” (Cook 110). While using an authoritative figure such as a history professor is already convincing, the acknowledgement of the professors conversion from skeptic to believer and newfound bewilderment for non believers attacks the doubtfs of the skeptic. Furthermore, Barnum uses hypothetical but ‘plausible’ propositions through flawed logic. If the “sea-lion, sea-horse, sea-wolf, and sea-dog” all exist, then, by conventional logic, there must also be sea people, mimicking a marine-themed mirror image of the world above the sea (Cook 109). If Barnum’s flawed logic and attacks on uncertainty are believable and intriguing enough, respectively, for the majority of the population, then the hoax will prosper.