Nature

Quick facts

Lorenzo Delano

Delano gesturing while speaking on a panel stage in Dubai

Delano directing a MasterClass film shoot, holding a clapperboard

Delano presenting on a blue-lit stage, headset mic and clicker in hand

Camera-monitor view of Delano directing a kitchen scene, reviewing a laptop with an actor

Delano crouching with a laptop beside Steven Kotler at a shoot

Delano coaching a family seated around a living-room table

Delano leading a training workshop around a table

Delano in 2020 (Joburg)

Identity(See Story)

Born: Lorenzo Delano7 December 1987 (age 38)Krugersdorp, South Africa
Phenotype: Caucasian, maleBlue 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
Employment: Independent (results-based)
Residency: United States (since 2026)No sponsorship required

Psychological(See Nature)

Intelligence: RIOT: Full-scale IQ 112
Worldview: Rational optimist
Personality: HEXACO: Disciplined, honest, and curious
Values: PVQ: Autonomy, achievement, and universal-care
Interests: RIASEC: Investigative, artistic, and social

Personal(See Pages)

About: What makes a person?
Lifestyle: Days by design, cities by scorecard
Health: Elite VO₂max, optimal labs
Wealth: Debt free with high credit score
Network: Unmarried and no children

Who I am now — my mind in three lenses: how I think (intellect), how I’m wired (character), and what moves me (drive). Current readings, not history.

Each lens is read with its gold-standard instrument — a composite profile over its components. In brief, I’m intellectually curious and highly conscientious, emotionally steady, and independent-minded — a builder who questions consensus. For how these formed, see my story.

Intellect (Cognition)

How I think. The head.



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 integral (naturalistic) humanist — reason-grounded, humanity-centered : Integral naturalistic humanist : Explanatory fallibilist : Physical idealist : Evolutionary emergentist : Self-authored : Agnostic atheist : Universalist : Amoral realist

Character (Affect)

How I’m wired to feel and react, apart from what I think or pursue. I’m disciplined and hard to rattle, reserved, self-reliant, and tough-minded rather than accommodating — and I meet a world I find fundamentally good, safe, and improving, yet impersonal: wonderful, but not watching.



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 3.8) : 3.69 (with ‘progressing’ at 4.75) : 3.86 (with ‘abundant’ at 4.5) : 2.21 (with ‘needs me’ at 2.75)

Drive (Conation)

The will that moves me to act, apart from how I think or feel. Mine runs on autonomy and mastery: self-directed achievement in a stable, caring frame, indifferent to status, tradition, or thrill — expressed as an investigator and maker serving people through ideas and craft.



I run on autonomy and achievement, kept stable and caring (scored 1–6) : 3.90 (with ‘achievement’ at 4.5 and ‘power’ at 3.3) : 3.67 (with ‘self-direction’ at 6.0, ‘stimulation’ at 2.7, and ‘hedonism’ at 2.3) : 3.65 (with ‘benevolence’ at 4.0 and ‘universalism’ at 3.3) : 3.17 (with ‘security’ at 4.2, ‘tradition’ at 2.8, and ‘conformity’ at 2.5)

My time, energy, and money go first to design (with music), the body, then daily studying : Design · Wellness · Education Design: 1st Wellness: 2nd Education: 3rd Resource allocation: 4th Music: 5th


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

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

My data derived from frameworks I position myself against

Perspective: Worldview positioning (pending); places seven philosophical stances (Funk’s 7 perspectives) • reading (self-assessed)
Motivation: Value determination (pending); ranks lived values by where time, energy, and money actually go (Demartini process) • reading (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)
Rationality: Frederick, S. (2005). Cognitive reflection and decision making. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 19(4). DOI (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)
Behavioural values: Demartini, J. F. (2013). The Values Factor. Assessed via the Demartini Value Determination Process.