The Contest Where Doing Nothing Can Make You A Winner
space out: to lose focus on what is happening around you, often without realizing it
In Hong Kong, people are joining a strange contest called the Space-Out Competition. The goal is simple: sit still, do nothing, and space out for 90 minutes. People can’t talk or move much, and if they do, they lose. To win, they must keep their heart rate steady and impress spectators with their ability to stay spaced out.
The competition started in South Korea in 2014. This year, over 1,200 people applied, and 70 were chosen to join the event. People of all ages came to try this activity, and many said they wanted to take a break from their busy lives. A father and his son joined together, saying it was a great way to slow down.
The South China Morning Post explains that the artist created this event to show how doing nothing is good for mental health.
It is something of a paradox that people compete to effectively win at “doing nothing” when the goal is to give themselves a break. The artist says this ironic framing is deliberate, to help people see the value in getting better at doing nothing.
“We tend to think that doing nothing is a waste of time,” Woopsyang says. “But in reality, for modern people, such ‘unproductive’ time doing nothing is actually absolutely necessary.”
Sample sentences
During the long meeting, I started to space out and missed half of what was said.
Sometimes I space out while watching TV and forget what I was even watching.
After a busy day, it’s easy to space out when you sit on the couch and relax.
Read More:
How doing nothing can improve mental health, as Hong Kong ‘space-out’ event aimed to show