I’m not sure if anyone asked this question, but are they teachable? For example, can they learn math, science, or any other school subject?
3 Likes
From my understanding, it’s very limited - they’re not going to be able to high degrees of math, like diving or multiplying, but very simple math, like 1+1 = 2. They’re base around a toddler thinking, so it’s very simple things and black/white understanding of things.
5 Likes
As far as I know the highest learning capabilities of fluffies is either preschool to kindergarten level teaching
2 Likes
Depends on your headcanon, but…
Fluffies are almost always depicted as illiterate. However, they can interpret the meanings of pictures fairly easily.
1 Like
In my head all fluffies can count to four because they have four hooves. Whether they can count any higher depends on if they’re smart (for fluffies) or exceptional dumbasses. Most can probably comprehend up to 10 or 20 (might call it “ten-teen” or something). Geniuses can go higher. The shallowest end of the gene pool can’t figure out anything more than four (“mummah hab twee mow babbehs than hab hoofsies!”).
2 Likes
One hoofie, two hoofies, t’wee hoofies, four hoofies… er… um…. More den four hoofies!
1 Like
Further to other answers, it’s also genetic. Unicorns tend to smarter than the average fluffy, and alicorns in particular can even reach low elementary school levels.
That said, their knowledge is more practical than academic - they wouldn’t be able to read, but they could organise a herd to look after itself and put them to task.
There was a story where some guys ran a fluffy landscaping and garden services, but left the herd leader, a unicorn, in charge of the actual details. They told the unicorn took to it like a jaded, long suffering foreman and with a lot of shouting, butting and general herding, he managed to get the rest of his heard to cut lawns.
The unicorn even picked up some human habits like saying ‘Jesus Chwist’ every time a problem popped up (“Foals num gwassies nao, pway huggy tag latew… oh Jesus Chwist, Woger, Mawigold, no enfies on da job! An’ why dat soon-mumma so faw fwom udda soon-mummas? Dey all needs to be together for safety! Eye roll as he walks off If fluffy wants sometin’ dun pwoppa, fluffy haf tu gu do deyselves, jesus Chwist…”).
I have a hugbox series where they go to ‘school’ which is basically just teaching them simple concepts like sharing, understanding one another, proper behavior, not to cross streets without their owner, et cetera. Stuff you’d teach a really young child.
1 Like
Fluffies are (usually depicted to be) about as smart as toddlers or pre-school aged children. Fluffies won’t be reading or writing, but unless you HC them as just robots they can learn stuff. They just have far more limitations.
People do write smarter fluffies, but I’m gonna be honest, those stories read less like ‘fluffy’ stories.
As if by magic, there’s a recovered story in the Fluffy community sub-Reddit which looks into this very question - the story is Educated Fluffies by Oracle:
To come back and expand on my answer now that it’s cooler: They’re commonly unable to read, but you could maybe bend it to know a few words or a line or two, but it’s overall this on words and English in general:
For math, they’re generally up to how many foals they can have - I assume it’s up to 8 or 10, depending on head canon, but they’re overall horrible with numbers.
For most other topics, like social studies, science, history, etc. would be far above their paygrade because they lack the two things above to really get it. By no means saying you can’t try to do it, but you’d be better shot at making a long dead tree come back to life.
1 Like
I feel like trying to teach a fluffy to read will end horribly