If propositional calculus (simpler than it sounds is a good way of describing causality in the territory, I very much doubt there is a fourth option. If I’m doing logic right:
1.¬A is A’s cause(1)∨A is A’s cause (1)(By NOT-3)
2.A has a cause→ ¬A is A’s cause(1)∨A is A’s cause(1)(By THEN-1)
3.A has a cause→ ¬A is A’s cause(1)∨A is A’s cause(1)→A has a cause ∧¬A is A’s cause(1)∨A is A’s cause(1)(By AND-3)
4.A has a cause→A has a cause ∧¬A is A’s cause(1)∨ A is A’s cause(1)(Modus Ponens on 3)
¬A has a cause∨A has a cause⊢A has a cause ∧ A is A’s cause(1)∨¬A is A’s cause* (By NOT-3)
6.¬A has a cause∨A has a cause ∧ A is A’s cause(1)∨¬A is A’s cause(1)(Modus ponens on 5)
Which, translated back into English, means that something either has a cause apart from itself, is it’s own cause*,or has no cause. If you apply “has a cause apart from itself” recursively, you end up with an infinite chain of causes. Otherwise, you have to go with “is it’s own cause(1)”, which means the causal chain loops back on itself or “has no cause” which means the causal chain ends.
Nothing thus far, to my knowledge, has been found to defy the axioms of PC, and thus, if PC were wrong, it would seem not only unsatisfying but downright crazy. I believe that I could make at least a thousand claims which I believe as strongly as “If the Universe defied the principles of logic, it would seem crazy to me.” and be wrong at most once, so I assign at least a 99.9% probability to the claim that “Why is everything” has no satisfying answer if “It spontaneously sprang into being”, “Causality is cyclical.” and “an infinite chain of causes” are unsatisfying.
(1)Directly or indirectly
You’re considering just the word “boss”. Consider the phrase “real boss”. Regardless of the meanings of the constituent words, the phrase itself can often be replaced with “the one with the real power”, or “the one who actually makes the decisions.” For example, “The king may have nominal power, but he’s really only a figurehead, his vizier is the real boss.”
Now, we still find something lacking in that the mice don’t actually make decisions, the people observing the mice do. However, if the people observing the mice care about doing good research, then decisions about what course of action to take in the future must take into account what happens with the mice. What happens with the mice provides evidence which forces the researchers to update their models, possibly changing the optimal course of action, or fail. The literal meaning “The mice provide evidence, forcing us to update our models, making us, in order to do our job correctly, change our decisions.” may be expressed metaphorically as “The mice make decisions on how to do our job correctly” or “The mice are the real boss.”
From the context of the article, in which he uses this as an argument for not coming up with certain specific goals before beginning research, this is likely what the author meant.