Can a low base dominon be helpful?

[Nagot Gick Fel]

Originally posted by Vynd:
OK, as I understand it, when the game does a temple check (or pretender check, etc.) in a province and it determines that dominion should go up, then it will always boost the dominion of that province unless it is at max. If it is maxed out, then and only then will your dominion (possibly) be pushed into a neighboring province.

If that was true, in the first turn your dominion wouldn't spread outwards before it is maxed in the capital. Anyone who has played more than a couple games should know it doesn't work like this. Did you really never notice that surrounding provinces might have a positive dominion in turn 2 while you capital was still below its optimal value?