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I'm currently reading a book about the effect climate has had on civilization. It deals with how people have adapted to changing climates and how this led to innovation in the social aspects of society. It contributed to fragmented groups coalescing into rudimentary cities and then into civilizations with all the advancement in administration this entailed. The author argues this change was partly due to the need for more efficient farming methods. Society’s struggle against the environment leads to greater prosperity and general progress. This is not to say that war does not lead to progress. I guess what is common in both cases is that there is a struggle of some sort. The struggle to survive is used as an argument for the necessity of the space program i.e. that we will have to colonize other planets eventually if we are to survive as a race.
As for progress and thought on topics that do not lead to immediate benefits, I should know all about that as I do study mathematics. Of course we do eventually see profound progress due to the broad base of knowledge this creates. That is not the reason many people choose to study these things though, they see it as mentally enlightening and in some aspect beautiful.
So here are two things that lead to progress without the need for warfare. They both, however, still entail some form of struggle. This struggle originates either from the necessity of survival or from an artificial source from within the mind. I do see your point that in times of peace there may be a tendency for philosophical stalemate. The other option that you put forward is however present today. For it to exist, however, society must be in a relatively robust and stable state.
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"I am the wrath of God. The earth I pass will see me and tremble." -Klaus Kinski as Don Lope de Aguirre
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