Here’s an idea: you force a smarty to sit in a pen with only a food /water bowl , a bed and a litter box there’s nothing for them to do other than watch someone partake in the art of building ships in bottles, a hobby known for being tedious and borderline insanity inducing to an outsider looking in. This is the only interaction they have with another living creature human or otherwise and it lasts for around three hours a day. The rest of the time they are by themselves. The pen they are in prevents escape or interaction with the ship model. The person working on the ship is so focused on his craft that he will ignore anything short of an actual emergency, the taunts, threats, boasts, pleading or otherwise may as well fall on deaf ears for those three hours . The smarty does however get the occasional head pat or brief hug/snuggle to keep them from going catatonic .the better the smarty acts the more head pats and hugs/snuggles they get within those 3 hours a day.The pen prevents sorry poopies from leaving the pen itself, each day the pen and everything within it is cleaned spotless including the fluffy itself. Food, water and bedding are also changed daily all of this done while the fluffy is knocked out . To ensure their only interaction is those 3 hours a day. This isn’t some experiment with a pre set time limit. It simply lasts until the fluffy in question expires completely . How long before the smarty starts behaving like a good fluffy?(note: My idea for this scenario is middle to lower end of the smarty spectrum. Mild self importance or slightly beyond but not grandiose narcissism .)
The only good smarty is a dead smarty so however long it takes for it to die of old age or starve itself to death after entering a wan die loop.
Nuanced answer:
The neglect path would probably make the fluffy more bitter and hateful.
Im not of the opinion smarties as a psychological condition can be cured.
Spoiled fluffies could be broken but also relapse easily.
You may want to clarify what you consider a smarty.
Thanks for the advice . From what I’ve read there’s more of a spectrum when it comes to smarty syndrome. You have everything from mild self impotence all the way up to grandiose narcissism.
Step father had the latter and I will tell you there is no cure for it.
My idea for this scenario is middle to lower end of the spectrum. Mild self importance or slightly beyond but not grandiose narcissism .
Put a diaper on them. It’s hard to act like a big man when you’re shitting yourself and have lost your #1 weapon against any and all threats
Just make them stack blocks for food and kick the tower over saying it was shit and now Mr. Teddy has to be thrown out. Repeat every day with anything they value until only the blocks are left, which you knock over every single time. Their infantile programming is exploitable for emotional manipulation.
There are easier ways to accomplish this end. Treat the smarty as a normal pet but lead it to the conclusion that it is in fact, just a stupid beast. If you have to use the methods that you prescribed I understand, and you may get some entertainment from value from it. I’m just saying, there are easier ways to break it while accepting the parameters of no harm nor neglect.