After watching the animated movie Monster House, I started seeing houses as giant faces. After watching American Express' "Don't Take Chances" commercial, it is pointed out to us that we are surrounded by smiley faces everyday!
What I found really fascinating about Chapter 1 is section about noticing patterns in things where no pattern exists (apophenia), and seeing figures places where none really exists (pareidolia). As a retail major, my course load requires us to take a number of design classes. Although I have only taken a couple of introductory design courses, each of them have taught me to look at things with more attention; to look at the finer details in things.
After taking these classes, I would lie in bed at night, looking at the little bumps on my ceiling and make shapes and figures with them. I look at holes and bumps on the walls and create images that clearly do not really exist. Although this chapter shows that noticing these things aren't necessarily the best thing in a scientific point of view, to a designer, it is ways for us to find inspiration. Without apophenia and pareidolia, American Express would not have been able to creat the commercial, and Monster House would never have been produced.
Good connections to life (critical thinking)! Very cute commercial -- made me smile :-)