[rainsil]

There are actually many parts of the world where such voices are routinely positive or neutral[0]. People in more collectivist cultures often have a less-strict division between their minds and their environments and are more apt to believe in spirits and the ‘supernatural’ as an ordinary part of the world, so ‘voices in the head’ aren’t automatically viewed as a nefarious intrusion into the sanctity of one’s mind.

Modern western cultures treat such experiences as pathologies of a sick mind, so it makes sense that the voices present more negatively.

[0]: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250902-the-places-where...

[andai]

The explanation I heard here is that in most of the world you already grow up with constant personal space boundary violations and voices that don't shut up. (And we like it that way!) So the marginal cost of another one is pretty low.

Curiously the biggest pathology in the west is the inverse: way too much distance.