Emotion in Music - and Lighting

I heard a psychological review of Adele's song "Someone Like You" on NPR. You can read the entire transcript here. This part of the program really jumped out at me: "The music taps into this very primitive system that we have which identifies emotion on the basis of a violation of expectancy," he says. "It's like a little upset which then gets resolved or made better in the chord that follows." 
I think this idea also has application for lighting design - and maybe any kind of design. Songs that begin in a comfortable, expected way then violate our expectations with something unexpected and then resolve are more likely to tug at our emotions and appeal to people in a strong reactive way.
What does this look like if we apply it to lighting designs? Why not introduce whimsy or ingenuity or something unexpected to lighting designs in order to strike a chord with the people experiencing the space?  Why not create a lighting design that is lilting and musical? What very primitive systems are in place for how we experience light in spaces, and what happens if we violate that expectancy just a little?