OP is very correct that most riders like clipless immediately and it is a very good system.
There are other ways to skin a cat. I was a very late adopter, went clipless in 1988. Was racing CX weekly, it was silly to use toeclips as long as I did. Watching everyone else ride away after each remount finally made me get new pedals and shoes. I promptly moved from back marker to being in the race, even placing on good days. The other bikes got clipless soon after. It stayed that way until 2011.
Then I was given custody of the eponymous 1963 Rickert, equipped with 1963 Campagnolo 1037 pedals. From the first seconds of test ride it was obvious the big pedal platform was giving me control. Body English met the big pedal and everything worked. The bike went arrow straight with no effort. The ride was relaxing and comfortable, there was no going back to clipless. This was after 22 years of clipless exclusively.
There are good reasons few are fond of clips and straps. They were created when the population had smaller feet, they don't work as well for bigger feet. They were made for shoes with smooth leather soles, almost no one even owns those any longer. Softsole shoes create an impromptu and unpredictable cleat. The oversize clown shoes that have become normal won't work at all. Current production cycling shoes are even worse, the knobs and straps on top of shoe aren't going in there, then they get stuck.
About lifting the pedals. No one does that. The only time it happens is when climbing, and climbing at relatively low rpm. Think of the rider who does 90% or 99% of their miles on clipless. When that rider gets on a flat pedal bike they do not start lifting their foot off the pedal on the backstroke. Does not occur. What does occur, and what we should strive for, is lifting the weight of pedal shoe foot and leg. No power output, just lifting the weight of the leg. If not lifting the weight of the leg then the downward force on the other pedal is pushing the leg up. Most of the time the pedal going down is in fact forcing the other pedal up and is likely doing that against resistance as well as dead weight. The way to train for smoother pedaling is to be like 79pmooney and pedal fast and light on fixed wheel. The old guys who talked about pedaling circles - at least the ones I knew - were all track racers. Fixed gear racers. When someone says pedal circles they are still quoting those old track racers.
There is a simple piece of physics no one knows or understands. Most assume force equals mass times velocity. Wrong. Force equals one-half mass times velocity squared. The exponent makes all the difference. This means if you pedal faster (at same speed) there is much less weight on the pedal. Less push, less struggle, less jammed up muscle and lactic waste. On flat ground on a light fixed gear it often feels like the pedals are just floating, 20mph and the bike is moving down the road with no effort at all. When you have that float going is the time to think about pedaling mechanics.
GCN and all the graphs start from the assumption that pedaling at 80rpm and pedaling at 100rpm are the same thing. Not. There are endless confounding variables. To even begin to learn pedaling mechanics step one is to get in a group ride where everyone is pedaling smooth on a low light gear. If there is no such group, fixed gear. When your pedals start to float you are beginning.
Best club I ever belonged to the shop owner decreed the ride started with a warmup. Max gear for warmup was 42x16. If one of the fast guys made trouble in 42x16 they were shifted to 42x17. (Yes, our leader would pull alongside and move the gear lever himself.) If fast guys still made trouble in 42X17 they were obliged to use the 18 or the 19. It worked. We sent three to the pros in three years. And then everyone got 12 tooth cogs and wanted to use them.