The far end of the curve was Star Trek's "Prime Directive," a law against interfering with other cultures. In the original Star Trek, it was "more honored in the breach than the observance," with Captain Kirk re-engineering more cultures than Scotty did engines.

"The Next Generation" and later series showed that the writers did not have a very clear idea of the basic principles behind this. The Directive and how it was treated went all over the map.

The hypocrisy seems obvious when the spacefarers declare a culture "ready" when they achieve a single warp flight, then move in and basically take over (the Vulcans in "Enterprise.")

I think it's feasible to isolate a place and stay away from it entirely. A true "Prime Directive."

But I don't think it's all that feasible--at least for humans--to do what "Star Trek" attempted, and assume one can interact secretly with and study civilizations and not interfere with them in any way. Even present-day zoologists and those who study animals in the wild have a rough time standing by with folded hands when an animal they've studied for a long time (or even named!) falls prey to a natural process.