Not time, but matter goes slower.
Matter near a gravitational source flows in a different rate from matter farther away. The relationship between matter and gravity is rather clear.
We need to stop wagging the dog, and realize there is no time other than the Now.
Time is a phenomenon. It is real, but it is not real all by itself. Same with Space; it is a phenomenon.
A good example of a phenomenon is the Eye of the Storm. We see it; it is real. But pick up the Eye and place it in an area without the storm and few will even see it is there. The storm is the source for the eye. The eye is not the source for the eye.
Same with time. Time is not created but experienced. Matter changes over time. The change of matter is greater when placed on a spaceship than when kept here on Earth (I'm talking about the clocks measuring a time frame; they do not measure time, clocks frame time). All matter changes behavior and its placement is vital to how it changes.
It is time we get rid of the brain farts. We must stop wagging the dogs.
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Gravitational lensing has an alternate explanation. When an alien photon from a distant star gets near the billions and billions photons of an in-between star, then this photon army can push out the single alien photon.
As you have heard, photon-photon interaction is not science fiction anymore, though I am aware I am stepping out into a field where many would say I can't step. I got the responses I wanted to hear -- this cannot be excluded.
There are actually three parts involved in this process. For most of the time the alien photon encounters the photons of the in-between star in a heads-on manner. A two-way street in which nothing much happens. But then getting closer to the in-between star, the billions of photons end up getting a different angle. Not each individual photon changes direction, it is the army that changes direction, So the single alien photon encounters a side-way shifting army and is pushed sideways itself, too. The strongest push comes when it sits at a 90 degree angle with the star, and this is of course just for a nano second. But then the army changes direction yet once more and this straightens out the alien photon. We see it coming toward us, but it was side-shifted from its original course.
Same with the famous 1919 solar eclipse. The army of the solar photons pushed the alien-star photons sideways, like a hat in the wind.
Thank you for your reply. I appreciate it.