I disagree. I think a lot of people try various gimmicks and tactics without staring themselves in the mirror and deciding that they actually want to for themselves.

Exactly. The gimmicks are a compromise. It's just switching the medium you're getting your fix from. Any compromise becomes more compromises where you've supposedly done better by switching to x, but you still haven't quit, and like with vaping, may actually be worse for you, and has become a hobby with all the different odds and sods to modify your vaping setup with.

The intent to quit is something you have to be very honest with yourself over.

I say this with countless former smokers in the family, and homeless levels of alcoholism on my partner's side of the family. People can live through hell on the street for decades, people can try and help them too in all kinds of ways from treatment to money to a job, but if they don't want it for themselves then nothing is changing in the long-term. "It's just one drink". Life down the toilet once again, they never actually quit.

And yes, they eventually got off the street after almost twenty years, but it took them to genuinely care about themselves and want better.

How is it useless? If I acknowledge that placebo gimmickery didn't stop me smoking, but just powering on through withdrawal and not giving in to the easy instant gratification, how is that bad advice? It isn't like alcohol where it might actually cause you brain damage to suddenly stop.

It's the same as telling a person with a lifelong heroin addiction to just stop using heroin.

Heroin is nothing like cigarettes, don't conflate them. Keep in mind I've had family in living facilities for months at a time over addiction.

"Nicotine has been proven to be as addictive as cocaine and heroin and may even be more addictive."

https://www.ucsfhealth.org/conditions/nicotine-dependence

People generally don't go to living facilities for cigarettes, nor sell themselves or everything they own or end up on the street jacking off strangers because of cigarettes though.

Something can be more addictive while causing less withdrawal symptoms.

I don't disagree with you, but the context was telling people to "just quit smoking," which is pretty silly advice because of how addictive it is. Those same people probably wouldn't seriously say, "just quit heroin."