"Yes. ANEC forcing the Quinlans to live at a pre-steam level was an unintended consequence of its prime directive, plus the Quinlans’ tendency to fight each other at the drop of a hat. A perverse instantiation , in AI-speak. It saw the limitation as the only way to keep them from killing each other off, and was willing to risk breeding out intelligence if necessary. It was, in fact, attempting to establish a breeding program to reduce the Quinlans’ innate belligerence."