Orson Scott Card had that whole "Ships of Earth" cycle where the ancients built an AI in the sky that could distract people every time they thought of developing certain technologies. So people went around trading camels and building empires but anytime they thought about nuclear power, for instance, they just suddenly lost their train of thought. I guess one way to guarantee a certain degree of personal value in human lives is to create insurmountable obstacles, but then once you know they're insurmountable that sorta takes away the fun.