We shouldn't pride ourselves because we aren't injecting something to our veins. Almost certainly, we are doing something with equal commitment. We're checking news at four minute intervals, to keep the news from ourselves at bay. We're doing sport, exhausting our bodies in the hope of not having to hear from our minds. We're using work to get away from the true internal work we're shirking. The most compelling addictions can sound very righteous to the world.
In a short few sentences, I think, this text is telling us that:
Addiction is not just about drug addicts, and if we look very carefully at our lives, we ourselves are also, somehow, addicts.
But I cannot understand what the author means by these examples:
"checking news" (what's wrong with checking news?)
What does it mean? "to keep the news from ourselves at bay." I know what keep/hold something at bay means, it means to prevent something dangerous or unpleasant from happening or from coming too close. But checking news doesn't sound very dangerous or unpleasant.
Or what's not true about doing sport or using work?
It's totally confusing.