JoeJohn, I enjoyed this lighthearted and for me at least—entertaining read!
I think claps and comments are simply “feelers” for the algo to sense what’s doing well—not necessarily numbers, but just interaction. (I think the number of claps is entirely psychological for us the authors)…
For instance, I think 100 people clapping one article each one time—will tell algo: this is highly popular, show it to more eyeballs.

I also think, the number of comments at some point show—article is creating conversation—show it to more. I bet, it waits for comments to reach an “x” number from different writers so as to differentiate when some of us comment 3 or more times on same article.

This is all entirely “Nat’s” speculation.
So to Benighted’s point: they indirectly help earnings. I feel pretty certain of that—in fact I sent in a question to Medium help, and I pretty much got confirmation pay is directly snd only linked to read time.

I agree with you and your commenters—comments is the heart for me. Where we can chill out—and I get to write and not worry about edits. ;-)

I still do—but it’s a moment for an informal chat and where we can get to know one another if opportunity arises.

Ok I’ve clearly overdone it…

Have a super Friday in your corner of the world!!🫶🏽💗🤗