Halos and Horns

The Halo Effect describes how we assume that people who are successful in one field may be successful in another. It may manifest itself in many ways and encourages us to support our leaders.

The Horns effect may be considered as the opposite. We dismiss the opinions of those we don't respect.

Neither the Halo or Horns effects may be valid as success or failure in one area does not mean that an individual will perform well or poorly on a different issue. So maybe we should be more skeptical of our leaders and more open to ideas from the average person. Interactive Democracy facilitates this point of view.