Does time always slow down as gravity increases?

Abstract

We consider gravitational time dilation between stationary observers and present examples, which contradict the statement that "time slows down as gravity increases". We show furthermore that this statement cannot be true in general, if strength of gravity is defined in an observer independent manner. We provide also a pedagogical introduction to gravitational time dilation, and discuss aspects of this phenomenon, which are often omitted in textbooks on general relativity.