If our civilization survives, we will, one day, through one manner or another, banish death. If that day comes, when it comes, I hope Jake's name is remembered for the monument to all who we lost, all of us who've had to grow and live and find meaning under the specter.
I don't know about banishing death entirely, but I do believe (echoing the sentiment of "if our civilization survives") that we'll significantly, massively increase life expectancy in the next century (like by a factor of two or more), and/or discover how to digitize or preserve brains to the degree that we'll be able to live on in some capacity beyond the deaths of our bodies.
If this does turn out to be true, it's a bummer that many/most of us alive today are likely too early to benefit from it.
