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For the most part, it comes down to Schopenhauer's will to live, which I think can be reasonably interpreted as the biological imperative. We know, thanks to our past interactions with the existing world (which passed on this information thanks to its past interactions, etc) that not looking when you cross the street could cause death. We have evolved an aversion to death, and therefore we look before crossing the street.
It's really not so bleak as I think most people interpret it. So what if we're essentially programmed to do the things we do? We still enjoy life nonetheless, and we're not programmed to truly comprehend our lack of will anyway, so understanding this on the level of higher brain function is not going to change how we feel about our will at its core. Furthermore, it actually describes a rather beautiful view of the universe. Maybe I don't actually have free will, but my lack of free will comes from my physical body reacting to the physical existence around me. Only, those reactions are also actions, which cause reactions in that very physical existence. It is the ultimate in interconnectedness, and so even without free will we are each an influential part of existence.
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Le temps détruit tout
"Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling
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