Nature

Quick facts

Lorenzo Delano

Delano as a small boy with his mother, a home-video still

Delano leading a training workshop around a table

Delano on a cycle ergometer wearing a CPET mask, beside the Cosmed metabolic cart

Delano directing a MasterClass film shoot, holding a clapperboard

Delano gesturing while speaking on a panel stage in Dubai

Delano standing with Dr. John Demartini and a colleague in a hotel corridor

Delano in 2017 (Barcelona)

Photograph by Paulius Staniunas

Identity(See Story)

Born: Lorenzo Delano7 December 1987 (age 38)Krugersdorp, South Africa
Phenotype: Blue eyes and brown hairAverage height (176 cm)
Ancestry: Western European (Dutch)
Ethnicity: Afrikaner
Language: Afrikaans; English; Mandarin
Citizenship: South African

Professional(See Knowledge)

Occupation: Applied taxonomist
Industry: Education, health, and tech
Works: Design methodologiesPublished designs
Skills: Knowledge organizationPedagogyProduction
Education: Self-directed (since age 13)Certified coach and designerMandarin distinction
Residency: United States (since 2026)

Psychological(See Nature)

Intelligence: RIOT: Full-scale IQ 112
Worldview: Enlightenment humanist
Personality: HEXACO: Disciplined, honest, and curious
Values: PVQ: Autonomy, achievement, and universal-care
Beliefs: PWB: Good, safe, and improving
Interests: RIASEC: Investigative, artistic, and social

Personal(See Pages)

About: Every claim referenced
Lifestyle: 12 habits, all 24 hours
Health: Elite VO₂max, optimal labs
Wealth: Debt-free, top-tier credit
Network: Each seat benchmarked

Your nature already knows where you belong.

Nature refers to the three constituents of the mind: intellect (how you think), character (how you’re wired), and drive (what moves you). Your nature predicts your niche: where you fit, and whom you serve best.

Intelligence and personality are fixed; beliefs and values are not. Each is best measured psychometrically, then checked against how you live. To master your nature is to master your emotions, develop your strengths, and find your fit.

Intellect (Cognition)

How you think is a function of intelligence (fixed) and worldview (modifiable), the two best predictors of the type and scope of problems you are drawn to. Mine: an Enlightenment humanist, IQ 112, drawn to making knowledge transformative.



I measure my general ability with the full RIOT battery (abilities as T-scores: mean 50, SD 10) : 112 (top 21.2%) : 64 (92.5th percentile) : 60 (84.5th percentile) : 57 (75.5th percentile) : 54 (65.6th percentile) : 50 (49.6th percentile) : 44 (26.5th percentile)


I am an Enlightenment humanist: reason-grounded, humanity-centered : Enlightenment humanist : Explanatory fallibilist (knowledge grows by better explanations; none final) : Physical idealist (one physical reality, in which ideas have real effects) : Evolutionary emergentist (life and mind emerged bottom-up through evolution) : Self-authored (existence has no inherent purpose; I write my own) : Agnostic atheist (I don’t believe in gods, and don’t claim certainty) : Universalist (all humans share one nature, worth, and potential) : Amoral realist (nature has no morals; values are made by valuers)

Character (Affect)

How you’re wired is a function of personality (fixed) and beliefs (modifiable), the two best predictors of who trusts you and who can live and work with you. Mine: disciplined, honest, and curious; easy with risk; a world felt as good and improving.



I am disciplined, honest, and curious (factors scored 1–7) : 6.87 (above the 90th percentile) : 6.25 (~90th percentile) : 5.79 (above median) : 5.34 (median) : 4.81 (below median) : 4.73 (below median)

I take financial risk more readily than 96 in 100 adults (scored 0–100) : 68 (96th percentile) : 6 of 7 : 80 (actual 68) : > 50% fall


I meet a world that is good, safe, and improving, with a mechanistic bent (scored 0–5) : 3.66 (with neutral primals ‘acceptable’ at 1.25 and ‘hierarchical’ at 3.80) : 3.69 (with ‘progressing’ at 4.75) : 3.86 (with ‘abundant’ at 4.50) : 2.21 (with ‘needs me’ at 2.75)

Drive (Conation)

What moves you is a function of values (modifiable) and interests (stable), the best predictors of what you do unasked and how to influence you. Mine: autonomy and achievement; design, the body, then teaching; ideas and making, for people.



I run on autonomy and achievement, kept stable and caring (scored 1–6) : 3.90 (with ‘achievement’ at 4.50 and ‘power’ at 3.30) : 3.67 (with ‘self-direction’ at 6.00, ‘stimulation’ at 2.70, and ‘hedonism’ at 2.30) : 3.65 (with ‘benevolence’ at 4.00 and ‘universalism’ at 3.30) : 3.17 (with ‘security’ at 4.20, ‘tradition’ at 2.80, and ‘conformity’ at 2.50)

My time, energy, and money go first to design, then the body, then teaching what I learn : DEE (design first, exercise second, then education) : 33% : 31% : 18% : 10% : 8%


I am drawn to ideas and to making things, in the service of people : IAS (investigative first, artistic second, then social) : 1st : 2nd : 3rd : 4th : 5th : 6th

References (Data)

My data derived from instruments scored against population norms

Intelligence: Adaptive IQ battery (opens in a new tab) (Aug 2026); tests for working memory, processing speed, fluid reasoning, spatial ability, verbal reasoning, and reaction time (RIOT) • report (RIOT IQ)
Personality: (Aug 2026); tests for honesty-humility, emotionality, extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness (HEXACO-PI-R) • report (hexaco.org)
Risk tolerance: (Jun 2022); tests for financial risk tolerance (25-item questionnaire) • report (FinaMetrica)
Primal beliefs: Primals survey (Jun 2022); tests for 26 primal world beliefs (99-item PWB) • report (UPenn Primals Project)
Portrait values: Portrait values questionnaire (2026); tests for the ten basic values (PVQ-40) • report (self-scored)
Interests: (Jul 2026); tests for the six RIASEC types (O*NET Interest Profiler) • report (O*NET)

My data derived from frameworks I position myself against

Worldview: Worldview positioning (pending); positions my seven reasoned stances within Funk’s 7 worldviews • reading (self-assessed)
Behavioral values: (Aug 2026); ranks lived values by where time, energy, and money actually go (Demartini process) • report (self-assessed)

References (Evidence)

The studies validating the instruments behind my scores, best-established first

Intelligence: RIOT, an open, adaptive online IQ test. riotiq.com (opens in a new tab)
Personality: Lee, K. and Ashton, M. C. The HEXACO Personality Inventory–Revised (HEXACO-PI-R). hexaco.org (opens in a new tab)
Interests: Holland, J. L. (1997). Making Vocational Choices (3rd ed.). Assessed via the O*NET Interest Profiler. onetonline.org (opens in a new tab)
Portrait values: Schwartz, S. H. (2012). An overview of the Schwartz theory of basic values. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2(1). DOI (opens in a new tab)
Risk tolerance: FinaMetrica. Personal Financial Risk Tolerance Report (June 2022). Assessed via the FinaMetrica Risk Profiling system.
Primal beliefs: Clifton, J. D. W., et al. (2019). Primal world beliefs. Psychological Assessment, 31(1). PubMed (opens in a new tab)
Worldview: Funk, K. What Is a Worldview? Oregon State University. oregonstate.edu (opens in a new tab)
Behavioral values: Demartini, J. F. (2013). The Values Factor. Assessed via the Demartini Value Determination Process.