I'm looking for a word or phrase that means that something works or functions, but not for the reason that people think or claim it works.
Examples
- John went outside in the rain with an opened umbrella above his head, thinking that pointing a stick at the heavens would let the gods know that he respects them and have them protect him from getting wet.
- Homeopathy: People believe that like cures like - that a dilute version of an irritant could cure the irritation. It works, but not for that reason: it's just a well-administered placebo, and placebos are remarkably effective.
Related concept:
- Cargo cult: I'm looking for a word / phrase / idiom that could describe what would happen if a cargo cult actually achieved what the participants set out to achieve.
Example sentence:
As requested, this is an example sentence which would show the use of the concept as a single word (please note that I'm also looking for phrases that would be suitable, so this is just per the requirements of the 'single-word-requests' tag.
John went outside in the rain with an opened umbrella above his head, thinking that pointing a stick at the heavens would let the gods know that he respects them and have them protect him from getting wet. However, this was merely a __________, because it was actually the fabric of the umbrella that protected him from the downpour.