ARE HUMANS UNDECIPHERABLE ENIGMAS OR PROGRAMMABLE BLACK BOXES?
A bit of both, or neither. Conventional definitions of "programmable" would suggest that our behaviors reflect some schemata. On the other hand, there's choice, i.e. I can choose not to eat, or sleep, or drink water; I can choose suicide, etc. And then there's the mind--is it an undecipherable enigma, or is it accumulated and cultivated data bound by logic, which is merely housed in the brain? Or a constellation of characteristics however perceived which is bound by our subjective values? Whichever I pick would likely satisfy only me.
do you believe that people tend to adopt general strategies to deal with challenges they encounter ??
Yes.
do you believe these strategies are identifiable ??
What do you mean? Can they be verbalized/communicated?
(1) do you think a person should get their sense of self-worth from within themselves or from what other people think of them?
I think self-worth should start out from within and primarily focus on what one thinks of oneself. I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong with getting at least some of one's self-esteem from what other people think of them, whether it has positive or adverse effects. Case in point, I care what my family members and friends think about me. And that contributes in part to how I picture myself. The key is that I don't prioritize over what I think about myself. I think issues with self-esteem arise when one makes it another's responsibility to give them self-worth. How can one expect from others that which one wouldn't expect from oneself?
(2) do you prefer to be spontaneous and go out and travel and do things "IRL" or do you prefer to think about doing things and lose yourself in movies and television shows and books ?
Definitely the latter. I'm a homebody. There have been occasions where I've been spontaneous, but I definitely like to lose myself in a good book while at home. I do play sports, so that gets me out.
(3) do you think people should generally trust their gut or do you think people should generally think things through ??
Trust one's gut, if I had to pick one over the other. One should definitely think things through, but thinking things through can produce no more or less solutions than going with one's gut. And the older I get, the more I trust my gut.
(4) do you think people should follow a strict core code of laws or principles no matter what, or do you think that people should follow different rules in different situations ??
Yes, I think people should follow a strict core code of principles--morally codified by the concept of individualism.