**Ask a monkey a physics question thread**

[OngBonga]

Clocks in greater gravitational fields run more slowly, as you've said, than clocks in lesser gravitational fields.

No they don't, they just appear to from another frame of reference!

*smug grin*

[MadMojoMonkey]

No they don't, they just appear to from another frame of reference!

*smug grin*

Yes, they really do.

Not just clocks, but all processes. The dilation of time is inherent to the universe.

You, whatever "you" means, will never perceive this because all of the constituent particles which are "you" are experiencing the time dilation. Your "now" always appears "normal" to you, because you inhabit that spacetime. The changes to your environment ARE changes to you.

In general, when I say, "clocks" run slower... what I mean is that time flows at a different rate. It has nothing to do with the macroscopic clock. It has to do with the (imaginary) internal clock which mediates particle interactions.


The (actual, real world) clocks on the ISS would not ever need to be re-synched if the difference was only apparent. They would just use a bit of math to correct for the discrepancy. However, the discrepancy continually grows, so they need to re-align them. The only way to not have the clocks slowly drifting out of synch with each other is if they run at different rates. I.e. they must have a different definition of a second and therefore a different definition of the speed of light.