I can understand why some people would not want to participate in this interesting little pastime, but, I am sure it is meant to be interesting and fun. Not hurtful or prying into others life.
Sometimes I think we take our experiences for granted and don't think twice about what we have done, experienced or accomplished. I lead pretty much a very boring life and it is interesting to me to hear other things that people have done or seen. One of the things that I do when I am in a group of people that I don't know is ask everyone a quirky question that is a 'little out there' as an ice-breaker. When a say a group of people, I mean a circumstance where everyone is sitting at a table where no one knows anyone and there is that awkward silence. It gets people talking or laughing at such an inane, ridiculous question. It loosens the tension and people have a starting place to start to interact with each other.
I like to travel by train. When you eat a meal in the dining car you are seated at a table with other strangers. I don't know about you all out there, but I like to have conversation while I enjoy my meal. From my experience in the past everyone usually introduces themselves and conversation goes from there. However, this particular time, no one said anything and there was an awkward silence as we were eating our dinner. So, I asked if anyone had ever seen a ghost or seen a flying saucer. I just got stares from the other three people. Finally, one of the guys started laughing and from there on the conversation took a funny turn and it turned out to be a very enjoyable meal.