When there is insufficient supporting evidence to determine whether an accusation is true or false, it is described as "unsubstantiated" or "unfounded". Accusations that are determined to be false based on corroborating evidence can be divided into three categories:
In Kevin Chesham and Beverley Mason's case it is intentional lying aimed at causing maximum distress and damage. Lying is communication with the intention of creating a false belief. A sarcastic statement which is not intended or expected to create a false belief is not a lie, even if it creates a false belief. If a statement is true, but the communicator believes it is false, it still counts as a lie. Although self-deception is possible, it is difficult to accomplish with full consciousness and intention. Therefore, lying is most often done by one person to one or more others. Lies are typically motivated by a desire to persuade others to act or to refrain from acting in a certain manner — or to make decisions in one's favour. Money, status, power — anything desired can provide temptation to kill, steal or lie. But lies can be motivated by nothing other than the creation of a false (misleadingly favourable or unfavorable) image or the fabrication of an entertaining story.
The "perfect lie" is a lie that produces a benefit and which will never be discovered. Or a lie that misleads a person who will never again be of any consequence or value. But it is not always easy to predict who will never be of consequence. If the pattern is repeated often enough, a mistake will be made which entails a person of considerable consequence. Maintaining a false perception in the mind of a person with whom there is an on-going relationship requires constant maintenance and diligence — an on-going cost which is not incurred by someone who tells the truth. Lying about one matter makes it easier to lie about others. Lies often require more lies to shore-up the false impressions. The liar must remember all the lies to maintain the illusions. Truth becomes a feared enemy of the liar. The intelligence of the duped person becomes the enemy of the liar. The accumulation of lies increases the probability of discovery. With discovery and the collapse of an elaborate fabrication comes a considerable loss of credibility and trust. Once credibility is lost it can be very difficult to regain, eg it would be impossible for Kevin Chesham and Beverley Mason ever to regain our trust.
The confirmed liar will only be comfortable in the company of those who are easily deceived — not those with intelligence and understanding. Hence Chesham and Mason's decision to break all contact. A person who resists lying has the capacity to build lasting relationships of trust. Trust is an important ingredient in every aspect of life which is dependent upon personal relationships — including work, business, friendship, love and family. Being close to people requires being open and honest. Being close to another person means knowing intimately what is going on in the other persons heart and mind — for better or worse — and this usually requires communication and disclosure.
The disturbing litany of lies Kevin Chesham has left in his wake reaches back long before he had a stroke in 1993, and indicates an inherent character flaw. He had a tendency to gossip behind people's back and report things he alleged he had overheard people say that were either to one's detriment or comments that were extremely unhelpful in the circumstances. He attributed these comments to friends and family alike which he claimed to have uniquely overheard while in their company. Not one of his allegations were found to be true, and the people concerned were horrified to learn of what he was falsely alleging about them. One accused person, someone I met three years after my becoming acquaintanted with Kevin Chesham and who became a loyal friend, described Kevin Chesham as "evil" after hearing what had happened post December 2007. Chesham's acts are evil.
- An allegation that is completely false in that the events that were alleged did not occur;
- An allegation that describes events that did occur, but were perpetrated by an individual who is not accused, and in which the accused person is innocent.
- An allegation that is partially true and partially false, in that it mixes descriptions of events that actually happened with other events that did not occur.
In Kevin Chesham and Beverley Mason's case it is intentional lying aimed at causing maximum distress and damage. Lying is communication with the intention of creating a false belief. A sarcastic statement which is not intended or expected to create a false belief is not a lie, even if it creates a false belief. If a statement is true, but the communicator believes it is false, it still counts as a lie. Although self-deception is possible, it is difficult to accomplish with full consciousness and intention. Therefore, lying is most often done by one person to one or more others. Lies are typically motivated by a desire to persuade others to act or to refrain from acting in a certain manner — or to make decisions in one's favour. Money, status, power — anything desired can provide temptation to kill, steal or lie. But lies can be motivated by nothing other than the creation of a false (misleadingly favourable or unfavorable) image or the fabrication of an entertaining story.
The "perfect lie" is a lie that produces a benefit and which will never be discovered. Or a lie that misleads a person who will never again be of any consequence or value. But it is not always easy to predict who will never be of consequence. If the pattern is repeated often enough, a mistake will be made which entails a person of considerable consequence. Maintaining a false perception in the mind of a person with whom there is an on-going relationship requires constant maintenance and diligence — an on-going cost which is not incurred by someone who tells the truth. Lying about one matter makes it easier to lie about others. Lies often require more lies to shore-up the false impressions. The liar must remember all the lies to maintain the illusions. Truth becomes a feared enemy of the liar. The intelligence of the duped person becomes the enemy of the liar. The accumulation of lies increases the probability of discovery. With discovery and the collapse of an elaborate fabrication comes a considerable loss of credibility and trust. Once credibility is lost it can be very difficult to regain, eg it would be impossible for Kevin Chesham and Beverley Mason ever to regain our trust.
The confirmed liar will only be comfortable in the company of those who are easily deceived — not those with intelligence and understanding. Hence Chesham and Mason's decision to break all contact. A person who resists lying has the capacity to build lasting relationships of trust. Trust is an important ingredient in every aspect of life which is dependent upon personal relationships — including work, business, friendship, love and family. Being close to people requires being open and honest. Being close to another person means knowing intimately what is going on in the other persons heart and mind — for better or worse — and this usually requires communication and disclosure.
The disturbing litany of lies Kevin Chesham has left in his wake reaches back long before he had a stroke in 1993, and indicates an inherent character flaw. He had a tendency to gossip behind people's back and report things he alleged he had overheard people say that were either to one's detriment or comments that were extremely unhelpful in the circumstances. He attributed these comments to friends and family alike which he claimed to have uniquely overheard while in their company. Not one of his allegations were found to be true, and the people concerned were horrified to learn of what he was falsely alleging about them. One accused person, someone I met three years after my becoming acquaintanted with Kevin Chesham and who became a loyal friend, described Kevin Chesham as "evil" after hearing what had happened post December 2007. Chesham's acts are evil.
Chehsam and Mason lacked being communicative, honest and open. They disclosed very little about themselves and toward the end they disclosed nothing. We never knew what was going on with them.
Kevin Chesham and Beverley Mason seemed exceptionally nervous on the last occasion my wife and I saw them on 26 December 2007. Chesham was shivering from head to toe and I was concerned for his well-being because everyone else was really warm as the cast iron log burner roared away in the outer-dining area annexe which we also use as a studio (the principal dining room being inside the Edwardian house). He looked drawn, gaunt and as thin as a rake. Beverley Mason had the expression of a startled rodent. We had no idea, of course, that they were up to no good, as they enjoyed our hospitality on Boxing Day 2007. Chesham was not shivering from cold. He was trembling with fear because he had set his wife a mission to go through our belongings on the pretext of being excused to visit the bathroom. She also took photographs in our home without our knowledge. She found no rooms locked and could have gone anywhere, but I did find it odd that she refused to use the downstairs lavatory, as she had on previous occasions, and insisted on using the one upstairs. Ironically, later that day I took them into the room of their interest which they had seen many times before. It contained books and other items that Chesham had given me down the years.
No matter the occasion, the couple were always detached, distant and mentally somewhere else.
No comments:
Post a Comment