> am I understanding correctly that you claim that the warping of space-time is just a mathematical trick and that the phenomena are better explained by just po

> am I understanding correctly that you claim that the warping of space-time is just a mathematical trick and that the phenomena are better explained by just postulating they light slows down in a gravity well? Light slows down in gravity wells because the space-time is "denser" near massive objects. This is not a mathematical trick, this is actually a real effect. It's also the reason for gravitational lensing, as the shortest path through a gravity well is not a straight line. Light can avoid the slowdown near the massive object, if it instead "goes around" it. The curved path is longer, but faster lightspeed along it compensates for the additional length.