Recent content by DJDS

This hits the nail on the head. The fact that one path is shorter is the fundamental point. Acceleration causes the effect by causing the shorter path to be followed.

As Dale said, the elapsed time between two events depends on the path between them- it is greater along a straight path than along a curved or crooked path, and that is what accounts for one twin experiencing less elapsed time than the other. Consider the everyday analogy with a spatial gap...