ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Well-founded set

Imagine you have a toy box, and inside this toy box you have all sorts of toys like dolls, balls, cars, and trucks. Now let's say some of these toys can be used to play with other toys. For example, you can use the ball to play catch with a friend, or you can use the truck to carry the dolls around.

A well-founded set is like this toy box, but with rules that make sure the toys can be played with in a certain way. In a well-founded set, the toys are arranged in such a way that you can always play with them in a certain order without getting stuck.

For example, let's say you have a puzzle with six pieces. The first piece you put down is the center piece, then you put pieces around it until all pieces are connected to each other. This creates a well-founded set because you can always put the pieces in the same order every time and the puzzle will be completed without any missing parts.

So a well-founded set is a collection of things arranged in a way that ensures you can work with them in a well-ordered manner without ever getting stuck.