Yes @scottyeager.
It all builds upon itself. When each of us gains a bit more SP, that is more voting power, which causes every vote we give to be worth more. It might only be a percent of a cent to start, but that is only a start. Commenting is a huge thing for smaller accounts. It is hard to get upvotes on an article since most dont know who you are. But when you post, you ride the back of the author who has a following.
I have seen articles that get $10 yet some posts have $15 or $20 in the comment section.
That's certainly been my experience with comments. Actually, I just posted about this and a few other economic realities that are important for new users to understand but took me a bit to figure out.