The Linux Penguin symbolizes the Giving of Knowledge

The Tree of Knowledge represents the sum total of human understanding. Intellectual Tithing is the giving of new and useful information to the Tree of Knowledge. The Tree of Knowledge is what separates us from the animals. We all benefit from the knowledge that has been handed down to us.

Think about it - where would we be today if someone didn't invent the wheel? The person who invented the wheel made a great contribution to the Tree of Knowledge of the human race and helped all of society move forward. If you look around at all the stuff around you - you soon realize that almost all of it was built by other people. As you sit in front of your computer reading this, you are using a device that is the combined work of millions of people and technology that is built on the work of people for thousands of years. All contributing to the Tree of Knowledge which allows us to have things like computers. We are living off the intellectual tithing of others, and we give back to the world by contributing intellectually - by being creative and sharing our creations with the rest of humanity. This helps grow the Tree of Knowledge and furthers us as a species. From this perspective - the human race can be envisioned as a single super being that shares a common mind. And in that respect we all have the opportunity to contribute to that common mind so that our thoughts and contributions will outlive our physical bodies. Contributing to the Tree of Knowledge is probably as close as you get to immortality in the Church of Reality.

Intellectual Tithing is discovering something useful and making your knowledge part of the Tree of Knowledge.

I use the Linux Penguin as a symbol of intellectual tithing because the Linux operating system is distributed under the GNU license and is free to everyone. This software is the work of tens of thousands of people contributing freely to a software tree that everyone on the planet is allowed to use. These people freely give of their intellectual resources to the good of humanity. As you surf the Internet you are hitting servers that are running this free software.