  The notion of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (EPR) "element of reality" is much
discussed in the literature on the foundations of quantum mechanics. Recently,
it has become particularly relevant due to a proposed criterion of the physical
reality of a given quantum mechanical observable [A. L. O. Bilobran and R. M.
Angelo, Europhys. Lett. 112, 40005 (2015)]. We examine this proposal and its
consequently related measure of non-locality [V. S. Gomez and R. M. Angelo,
Phys. Rev. A 97, 012123, (2018)] and argue that the criterion is ill-described
as quantifying physical reality without introducing serious inconsistency with
the basic notions of realism that under-gird enquiry. We agree that this
reality criterion demonstrates, along with the famous GHZ results, that general
quantum observable values make for poor elements of reality. However, we also
argue that this does not mean no such elements of reality are to be found in
quantum theory. By arguing for, and adopting, probability distributions as
these elements of reality instead, we demonstrate that the criterion of
physical reality is actually one of observable predictability. We then examine
the relationship of realism-based non-locality to the Bell form and find that,
despite the flawed premise, this measure does indeed codify non-locality that
is not captured by Bell inequalities.
