Can someone explain to me the last part about the items standing still and no force acting on them? Isn't gravity acting on them, pulling the earth and items together?
Imagine being inside of a closed box like an elevator. Without leaving the box there is no way to tell the difference from being in free fall towards Earth versus floating in interstellar space. Therefor, general relativity take the perspective that gravity is a fictitious force (like centrifugal force) that arises from the shape of spacetime.
