For all of those calling Mason Silver a “psychopath”

[Blondie]

“Psychopath” is a term thrown around very casually these days. You encounter a strange individual and upon telling a friend about it, you describe him as a “psycho”… However, there is a whole range of psychological disorders that can lead to what general society considers psychopathic behaviour. Clinically, psychopathy is a very distinct condition.

I was talking to @coryphella recently, and she happened to mention that Mason had brought up a psychopath checklist in one of their conversations. I began to wonder if Mason had ever been assessed and what those results would look like… I happen to have a copy of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised, but haven’t had a chance to squirrel it out until today.

***Please note: I am NOT a trained clinician. Although I have studied psychology in the past, this is merely an interest of mine, a hobby if you will…***

What is the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised?

“20 items that typify the affective, impulsive, and antisocial symptoms of the condition.”

The first version was published in 1980 and it has been considered the most accurate way of assessing psychopathy since its revision in 1991.

Usually the Checklist is used following both interviews (approximately two hours of interview time) and a comprehensive investigation of the person’s records – typically criminal, but also medical and historical.

It is scored on a three-point scale:
0 = does not apply to/characterise the individual
1 = describes the individual in some areas
2 = trait is present in all aspects of the individual’s life
* If there is a lack of evidence on which to base a score, that item will be omitted and a score pro-rated (I hate Maths and always manage to eff up pro-rating so warning in advance that my final calculations may be slightly off, but roughly correct).

So, 40 is a “perfect” score on the Checklist. The clinical diagnosis of psychopathy is reserved for those who score 30 and above. Incarcerated criminals score an average of 22. A “normal” person will score around 4 out of 40.

***Another note: I have never met Mason. I have had minimal interactions with him, despite my best efforts. My assessment is based solely on the information shared by Mason and those who have interacted with him. This creates its own set of problems. As you will see, there are whole areas on which we have no evidence to base a score – we know little to nothing of Mason’s childhood and what we do know about his life comes from him, hardly the most reliable of sources…***

1) Glibness/Superficial Charm
One of the most fascinating things for me about psychopaths is that if you meet them, converse with them without knowing their background or crimes, you will come away thinking “oh, he was so nice!” Then you look at their file and wonder how this can be the same person. Sounds a lot like Mason to me. Many who have talked to him have described him as polite, charming and ultimately, likeable. Yet here is a man who, although he may not have been wielding the bat, is complicit in a murder and the “cleaning up” of that crime…
This is often a large part of the reason that psychopaths get away with their crimes for so long. Firstly, their victims are unaware of the kind of person they are dealing with – if they were, they would obviously have run like the wind. Maybe they saw warning signs, felt something was off, but gave them the benefit of the doubt because of their undeniable charm. This charm is also the reason why victims who do come forward (if they are alive and able to do so) are often not believed.
It is important to remember Mason’s previous behaviour, no matter how charming he may be in conversation.
Mason’s score: 2

2) Grandiose Sense of Self-Worth
Egotism. Arrogance… Mason clearly believes himself to be a cut above intelligence-wise (which I don’t dispute) and as such worthy of attention, to the extent that he gets annoyed when he doesn’t get it. He seems to be unconcerned by any chance of retribution – either because he believes he is smart enough to see it coming or because he believes himself to be invincible.
However, there is a sensitive side to Mason, a vulnerability of sorts that leaks out when he lets down his guard. His self-worth is attached to his ability to realise his goal. It seems that deep down, Mason knows, as a person, he is both flawed and fallible.
Mason’s score: 1

3) Need for Stimulation
Two words. Rubik’s Cube. Even when “relaxing” on a couch, Mason needs to be stimulated. People have even made jokes about fidget spinners. He’d probably benefit from one.
This trait can also be described as “proneness to boredom” – in conversation, he has been known to be impatient, throw out questions before the previous one has been answered, cut off calls because he is bored… “He then started to hint about the fact that he’s the head cheese for blah blah blah and that’s when I got bored and I asked him a question!”
Psychopaths require high levels of stimulation and as such can switch plans frequently. They often fail to achieve much in terms of education or career or relationships, not because they lack the intelligence (quite the opposite), but because they are easily distracted. “My notes are a little murky here, there was something just super distracting in the corner of my room…”
This could also be behind his intense focus on one person, only for him to abandon them and switch to someone else. Violet to Megan to Chelsea… This isn’t to say that he gets bored necessarily. His crushes are short-lived. He gets distracted. Or he just figures you out to his personal satisfaction and moves onto the next mystery.
He seems to need constant interaction and attention – ignoring him is the worst thing you can do. He seeks out stimulating conversation. He prods for a reaction. Whether that reaction is positive or negative is unimportant. Just look at his Instagram post today.
His current goal is to bring down the OSDM. I don’t think any of us would argue that he doesn’t have the ability to do so. The real question is, does he have the focus to see this through?
Mason’s score: 2

4) Pathological Lying
This certainly gives us some food for thought and I know this is going to be one of the most contentious areas of any discussion that arises from this. Psychopaths are known for their mendacity – compulsive lying for no real reason at all, even about things that can easily be checked and proved to be untrue. Unfortunately, we have no way of really checking if most of what Mason tells us is true or not, particularly when it comes to his life up until this point. It’s also easy to say “oh, he’s a psychopath so we can’t trust a single thing he says.”
I’m not saying he hasn’t lied obviously; his introduction of himself to us all was a lie for starters. But there is a difference between this criteria and conning/manipulation as will become clear. This refers to lying for no real reason at all as I already said, and every lie so far can be argued as having been in furtherance of Mason’s “goal”.
At this moment in time, I have no evidence that he pathologically lies so for now…
Mason’s score: 0

5) Conning/Manipulation
This one is gonna be easy. Conning and manipulation are Mason’s calling cards. He told us that he was investigating ethics in immersive theatre. He led Morgan to believe that he was “Jack” (psychopaths often live under many aliases throughout their lives). He has emotionally manipulated @coryphella and it could be argued that it now appears to be attempting to do the same with @chelsea by telling her about his ex and daughter. He appeared to be giving @bcbishop a chance to save Joyce, only to lead @thebuz on a fool’s errand… Yeah, I don’t think I need to go on…
He is clearly willing and able to use any forms of manipulation (of people and the truth) to get what he wants. But this is lying with purpose, as opposed to mendacity – there is a degree of justification in play here. Not saying it’s right, just saying there’s a reason behind it.
Mason’s score: 2

6) Lack of Remorse or Guilt
Everything to do with Joyce’s beating and ultimate demise shows Mason feels absolutely no remorse. I mean, even if a person believes they are justified, they will often still feel guilt at causing harm to another person. Not Mason. He even brings the corpse to a coffee date as a “silly and stupid” gift… Jeezus…
He doesn’t appear to exhibit remorse over anything really. Maybe I’m wrong here, but don’t most people who have to leave their partners behind when they leave a cult feel some sort of guilt?
He just gets frustrated over what he believes is having to clean up his and other people’s messes.
Mason’s score: 2

7) Shallow Affect
When it comes to emotions, a psychopath “knows the words, but not the music.” They will express feelings, but these have no real strength or depth. They don’t develop strong emotional attachments to others. They don’t know what love is, or if they claim to love someone, it is usually tied into the physical acts of “love”. They are indifferent to any hardships they bring upon others.
As I already outlined, he displayed no real emotional response to Joyce’s beating and death.
Could Mason’s regular calls to Megan be considered an emotional attachment? Or are they mere manipulation?
The one thing that stops me from scoring Mason a 2 on this is @Chelsea’s description of how he changes when talking about his daughter: “I asked what she was like and he lit up. He started talking about how smart she was, kind, and “everything you say and everything you do she sees. She still has nightmares. It’s scary for her.” He said that it was just the two of them, and that her mother, his ex, is still in the OSDM. He got his daughter out, but his ex is still very much there.” That doesn’t sound like someone who has no real emotional connection to anyone, who doesn’t know what love is.
Although, if it turns out Mason doesn’t have a daughter, that this is an attempt to manipulate us all further, not only is this score going up to 2, but I am gonna be mega pissed.
Mason’s score: 1

8) Callous/Lack of Empathy
Joyce: “Mason laughed, he actually laughed. I can barely swallow and he laughed when I managed to ask if he was keeping me alive to bring you in.”
Yeesh. That behaviour is certainly callous and lacking in empathy BUT it is only one example. I think he has shown in his interactions with others that he can display empathy – he asks about people’s days and appears interested and sympathetic. We need to remember that a score of 2 is only obtained if lack of empathy is seen in multiple areas of his life, not the degree of callousness seen in one situation, because hell, his treatment of Joyce would certainly score him a 2, if not a 10, if this was the case.
Mason’s score: 1

9) Parasitic Lifestyle
We don’t know much of his life before. Sounds like he was brought up in the OSDM so it’s not like he had a choice whether to be parasitic or not. Morgan said he was the kind of guy who would bring you a coffee and not let you pay for it. But that’s not really enough to base a decision on, so until someone comes forward and says, “Mason owes me $xxx!”, I’ll have to prorate this one.
Mason’s score: omit, prorate final score

10) Poor Behavioural Controls
On one hand, this is a man who thinks it is acceptable to sniff people, to make nightly calls to a married woman… Yet, he is also someone who, when faced with Morgan goading him into a fight, remains calm. Psychopaths are known to react violently to the slightest provocation, or at no provocation at all.
His poorly controlled behaviour seems to be directed purely at women…
Mason’s score: 1

11) Promiscuous Sexual Behaviour
Sure, he is creepy and likes to sniff the ladies and listen to them sleep, but we have nothing that points to anything more than that. In fact, he appears to have been in some kind of relationship, serious enough to have a child. Although, as @daela points out – this could be the result of one of their weird sex rituals… If that’s the case, would he refer to the mother of his child as an “ex”? That implies something more at play here.
I really have nothing here to base a score on yet.
Mason’s score: omit, prorate final score

12) Early Behavioural Problems
This aspect of the checklist refers to problem behaviour of the person in question during their pre-teen years; behaviour such as violent outbursts, theft, that kind of thing. We simply don’t have enough information on Mason’s childhood for me to score this one either.
Mason’s score: omit, prorate final score

13) Lack of Realistic, Long-Term Goals
Hmmm… This is debatable. Some would dismiss Mason’s apparent aim to bring down the OSDM as unrealistic, while others would say the opposite. As he is not acting alone, but instead has Briarberg and Michelle behind him, and has reasons for this goal, I cannot discount it as unrealistic.
Mason’s score: 0

14) Impulsivity
This may just be my interpretation, but nothing Mason does seem unpremeditated. He is intelligent and manipulative, but everything he does seems to have some degree of pre-planning and thought that leads towards his ultimate goal.
Many say that he is unpredictable. I don’t believe this to be true if you figure out the way he thinks and what he hopes to achieve from his actions…
Mason’s score: 0

15) Irresponsibility
This refers to every aspect of a person’s life, whether it be finances, business, relationships with family or romance.
It seems like Mason takes his responsibility as a father seriously at the very least, heading home to take care of his sick daughter. He took her with him when he left the OSDM, when surely a self-centred and irresponsible person would have left her behind…
He is taking on the OSDM – a huge and important task which he appears to be willing to take full responsibility for. It doesn’t appear to be a totally selfish cause, although obviously his personal experience at their hands does factor into this.
At this time, I see no evidence of him acting irresponsibly in any area of his life.
Mason’s score: 0

16) Failure to Accept Responsibility for Own Actions
I don’t recall Mason at any point denying the charges we as a community have accused him of. He hasn’t at any point tried to blame anyone else – no “Michelle was the one who beat Joyce, I just finished the job”. He could blame the OSDM in a “you gave me no option” way. But he simply hasn’t engaged on that front. So, this is a tricky one to score. He does however admit to having to clean up his own mess, so based on this…
Mason’s score: 1

17) Many Short-Term Marital Relationships
The only “evidence” we have here is Mason’s reference to his ex who is still within the OSDM. He could have a whole gaggle of ex-wives that we know nothing of… Again, Mason’s past is a mystery…
Mason’s score: omit, prorate final score

18) Juvenile Delinquency
Although behavioural problems begin early in a psychopath’s life, they accelerate considerably during adolescence. Most teenagers can be a bit “troublesome”, but here we’re talking about chronic anti-social behaviour that often leads to law-breaking.
No information available on Mason’s teenage years. I do wonder if this is when his love of argyle began…
Mason’s score: omit, prorate final score

19) Revocation of Conditional Release
Ok, so on the surface this seems to apply solely to those convicted of a crime and their inability to adhere to conditions of their release. However, more broadly, it is indicative of a person’s inability to learn from experience – a repeated failure to redeem themselves when given the opportunity.
Has Mason been given the opportunity to redeem himself? Well, I guess if he truly had given Bryan/Buz the chance to save Joyce, that would have counted somewhat in his favour. Instead, he used the opportunity to make a point. He then showed Chelsea Joyce’s body as a “surprise” and made that Instagram post earlier. His actions aren’t exactly making him any more popular. But maybe he considers the message to the OSDM to be more important than people’s opinion of him…
Maybe his successful destruction of the OSDM will be his ultimate redemption.
This really is a debatable subject on which I wouldn’t feel comfortable giving him either a 0 or a 2.
Mason’s score: 1

20) Criminal Versatility
Whether directly responsible or complicit, he has been involved in the beating, murder and disposal of Joyce. He has also exhibited the ability to assume different identities, which you know, would come in useful for offences such as fraud.
We have no evidence his conman-like behaviour has been used to break any laws, and I’m certainly making no comment on how good he is at it… So, we go back to Joyce…
Mason’s score: 1

FINAL SCORE: 18.75 (if my Maths is correct, which it probably isn’t)

So, according to my amateur assessment based on the information we have currently, Mason is not clinically a psychopath. He’s not “normal” by any stretch of the information, but he doesn’t even tip the 22 scored by your average convicted criminal. In my opinion, he scores surprisingly low, but this may be due to how little information we have on his background which results in a number of pro-rated scores. This is by no means the final final score – I will revisit and rescore as necessary based on information that comes to light over time.

There is a lot of anger flying around and calls for vengeance are to be expected. There will also be those who defend him. I just wanted to take the time to analyse Mason and to share this with you all so that you can see who you are dealing with. Know your enemy as they say… In my opinion, the worst thing we can do is dismiss Mason as a crazy person, as a “psychopath”. As I already said, I also don’t believe he is unpredictable. Put the pieces together and you can usually make a pretty accurate prediction of what a person will do when put in a certain situation…

Michelle. Well, she is a different matter entirely…

[Violet]

Holy shit, @blondie…just when I thought I couldn’t love you more.

*applauds everything about this post*

[Brad Ruwe]

@blondie going above and beyond the call of duty with this! Fascinating insights here.

[Chelsea]

@blondie, this is gorgeous. Based on the interaction from last night, I want to chime in with a couple of things that I saw. I think you’re pretty spot on here. PSA: This is an objective opinion based on the descriptions and my observation and has nothing to do with my opinion of Mason.

1. Definitely charming.
2. That intelligence is definitely there, and I think you’re right. I think that’s real. The vulnerability is also there and real.
3. Yes. Yes yes. But this one confuses me. I saw him as being incredibly focused. I was looking for fidgeting or signs of discomfort (mostly because it amuses me), but it wasn’t there. He was still and calm.
6. I wish I had phrased the question differently when I asked if he regretted what he did. He said “I did what I had to do.” That different than not feeling remorse. There could be an element of remorse there that he “had to” do it. But I don’t know. His face did not look like it didn’t have an effect. It looked, challenged. That could have been a “Are we really fucking talking about this right now?” or a “How do I phrase this to not look like I’m insane?”, but the face did a thing. I’m not sure how to describe the thing, but it did a thing. As far as the body in the trunk. I’m wondering if he thought that was OK because it was me, who is most likely not going to be phased by that. I realize that’s weird and probably messed up, but have you met me?
7. He clearly loves his daughter. I will say without a doubt that that’s true. And I agree with the being mega pissed if she doesn’t exist. I don’t enjoy being lied to.
10. I agree, but he was very controlled with me. Pleasant, respectful, polite, and controlled.

[Blondie]

Thank you guys, partly for the love and partly for trawling through a 3000+ word post ❤

@chelsea As one of the people who has spent the most time with him, and definitely with him as Mason and not Jack, I am really glad of your input. I think he acts the way he does with you because he knows you are open-minded and willing to see all the shades of grey before making any kind of judgement. Which is the kind of person I am too, which is why I took the time to make my assessment…

[Jackie]

Legit, masterful @blondie

• This reply was modified 7 years, 3 months ago by Jackie.

[Blondie]

I GOT A POSTER! I FINALLY DID IT! @theladyj ?❤???

[Jackie]

<3 <3 <3

[Violet]

FUCK YES!!

[Lawrence Meyers]

Great. Apparently everyone I hang out with fits this description.

[Author]

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