I'm no expert on this (I'm sure others will weigh in) but there are certain statistical properties that are likely to emerge no matter what the cause it. For example Zipf's law applies to many things like city sizes, and might emerge "by coincidence".
I agree though that adherence to largely invisible (and as you say, at the time unknown) statistical features cannot have been on purpose.
I agree though that adherence to largely invisible (and as you say, at the time unknown) statistical features cannot have been on purpose.