Tracing the Cause Backwards

In chapter 15, Epstein explains the different aspects of "cause and effect". One way people can use cause and effect is by tracing the cause backwards to find out the real cause of the effect. According to Epstein the only changeable part of "cause and effect" is the cause. So when people are trying to figure out what is the true cause of a certain problem or result they can go backwards. For example, I was late to my art class last Wednesday because I woke up late, and I woke up late because I stayed up doing homework, and I stayed up doing homework because my manager asked me to stay later at work. So if I went backwards with this cause and effect I would end up blaming my manager for being late to my art class. But I could also keep going backwards and say that my manager made me stay later because one of my coworkers got sick and could not make it to their shift. Then I could blame my coworker or even the person that got her sick. But according to Epstein, we have to draw a line at the closest source of the effect because otherwise we would go too far and the problem would seem completely random.