"...our tendency to want to confirm what we think we know...."
Yeah, we even do that unconsciously (and effectively, I might add)...the placebo & nocebo effects.
Something is afoot here, but it's devilish hard to pin down!
Like, how would you ever even
know a false positive from a real manifestation???
Given the slippery nature of time, if you read your friend's mind, maybe your friend was reading your mind at the same time! I mean really, this all is very oogie-boogie, in a good sort of way, I trust.
Bottom line: if you consciously wanted something, and then you got that thing, well, thank the powers that be, whatever they may be. I call them God.
Maybe all manifestation is that kind of tangled up interaction with others at the mental level. I mean,
something makes it work, if it indeed works, right?
Trying to explain it scientifically...well...good luck.