The "oddworld has many intelligent species" point is interesting to me, mainly because it seems to underscore a latent hypocrisy in the way we (as a greater human culture) view the world in general and the past in particular. The main difference between the types of intelligent species on oddworld is essentially one of culture. There is the industrial culture and the native culture, but there are many species that belong to each group. It's agreed that glukkons are part of the industrial mindset, but nowhere has it been stated that they are genetically wired to think that way. In fact, the "sligstorm" game and working mudokons (In the city) illustrate the point that these divisions AREN'T REAL. By that I mean that they are completely mental and if all the oddworld creatures dissapeared tomorrow, it would be impossible to tell which ones thought the environment should be exploited, and which ones thought it should be protected. This major division is a mirror of the human cultures at work. If you look at it from this mindset there are only two major cultures in all of human history. Those that thought that man was lord of the earth, and must therefore change it as he wished; and those that thought man was a creature of the earth, dependent upon it for survival. I'm not talking about the difference between environmentalists and corporations. I'm talking about the difference between the Bushmen of africa and a Realtor.
Despite clashes between the subsets of what you might call "Civilized" humans and other "civilized" humans, their major outlook on the world and mankind's role in it is essentially the same. "The world was made for man, and man was made to rule and conquer the world." That quote's from Daniel Quinn. In grave contrast to these aforementioned clashes clashes between Civilized and Primitive peoples always takes on a very onesided approach. It was said earlier that glukkons are not mudokons; quite true. On the other hand, all people are human. Still, this isn't how primitive peoples are treated. When the europeans took over the americas they didn't view it as stealing, because to them the natives WEREN'T HUMAN. There were dozens of reasons for this, most notably--and arguably the only--reason was that the europeans considered humans to be lords of the land. Yet these creatures did not hold sway over the earth but instead were forced to live like animals. Thus, obviously, they couldn't be human. There were religous reasons too, but these were created out of the same main idea. Humans were above animals in every way.
Ask yourself this: Has evolution stopped? If the answer is yes, then why has it? If your answer is no then you've got to wonder what exactly is keeping humans as the dominant intelligent species. Industrialisation. We are currently the only species--possibly barring ants--that kills creatures which eat the food of our livestock. Think about it. Why go to the trouble? On oddworld all you have to do to get food is wander around a bit and find it. Back in the day on earth that was all that was needed, but for some reason one small sect of people decided that humans should rule the earth, and they went about making life hard on themselves. I could go into more detail, but I doubt this is the place.
As for Abe being similair in ways to Osama; sure. Though Bin Laden fights from an extremist religion standpoint, the initial catalyst was the same. Both Abe and Osama bomb the powers which have killed thousands of their people. When you get right down to it, statistically speaking 911 was no big deal. More people died that day of heart attacks. The american government has bombed and killed somewhere in the neighborhood of 500,000 afghanistans during what was allegedly peace time. That's a conservative estimate, by the way. Of course it would be insane to attempt to justify 911 as it was unjustifiable, but allegations that "They hate our freedom" are laughable.
Another difference between abe and osama. Bin laden set himself up to bomb, whereas it was just dumb-luck that put abe in his situation.
On a final note, Man probably is the most intelligent species on earth right now. (Except maybe dolphins) Still, it's the misuse of this intelligence that makes us dangerous. Maybe oddworld knows what's up.
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