Can good questions (and replies) be as valuable as essays?

Hi Everyone,

I'm a geeky person and my approach to learning about steem and steemit is analytical. After reading about steemit for a couple of hours and seeing mostly essay type posts I started thinking that a good question could be just as valuable as an essay.

So my first post is an experiment.

Can good questions be as valuable as essays?

I'm hoping folks with more steemit experience will chime in with their thoughts on this question.

And a related question. Could a steemit reply be more valuable than the parent post? This is an honest question. I have yet to see a reply that is more valuable than it's parent post. I imagine this is possible, although I wonder if maybe it is unlikely. Not knowing how steemit works makes me wonder about the dynamics associated with good posts and good replies.

Thanks for any interest and thoughtful replies. I hope to see a reply that is more valuable than this post!

Sincerely,
curious-swirl