Tracing Back to Origins

CORE DEFINITION

The phrase pairs tracing to the root with tracing to the source, and the goal is to recover the full sequence of how something came about. As a problem-solving method it holds that an observed phenomenon is the end of a causal chain, so treating the visible end leaves the chain intact and the problem returns. The core claim is that intervention at the origin is the only way to stop recurrence, which is why the method depends on repeated why questions backed by causal evidence. The qualification is depth discipline: stopping at the proximate cause leaves the generator alive, while pursuing causes with no evidence turns the trace into speculation.